


Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

by Nikki082489



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-01-30 18:23:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 49,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21432682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikki082489/pseuds/Nikki082489
Summary: **I DO NOT OWN Z NATION OR THE CHARACTERS I ONLY OWN MY CHARACTER!**This is a Z Nation story with Murphy x OC! Nik If you like to change it to your name you are more than welcome! Nik is 10ks older sister she was 23 when the world ended and zombies took over. she develops a crush on Murphy but will never admit that to anyone. she's a sassy, smart mouth, sarcastic, overly opinionated independent woman. Murphy won't admit it but he likes her too and how she's not afraid to speak what's on her mind.
Relationships: Murphy (Z Nation)/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Running that's all we did it was all about survival. We were in a damn zombie apocalypse. You had slow zombies, fast zombies, zombies that seemed to have super speed, zombie animals and there were also different blends of zombies depending on how the died and where they were when they died it was crazy and chaotic.

Hi, I'm Nik I was twenty-three when the world went to shit and zombies took over and my little brother Tommy or as he liked to be called 10k, he says thats how many zombies hes going to kill then his name will be Jeff he was seventeen. We were out with our dad when everything happened. We traveled for a while but then our dad got bit and turned and Tommy had to put him down. He changed after that he wasn't the scared nerdy loner kid anymore. Me on the other hand had always been hardheaded, strong, independent. I was overly opinionated, could never keep my mouth shut, I was sarcastic, a smartass, got in trouble as a teenager. I learned how to use guns, knives, bows, how to survive out in the wild at a young age the same with Tommy. As soon as I could I left and traveled around. I drank, I smoked, I had lots of sex, got high on the occasion. My dad never approved of anything I did. But after being gone for five years I came home for Tommy. The world ended and zombies took over shortly after. 

After Tommy and I were alone for a year and survived black summer we ran into a group of people at a school, helping them out with the Zs from afar. When they were leaving they stopped and an older man with white medium long hair and a ling white beard asked us to join them so we did. There was Warren who was in the National Gaurd, Garnett was also in the forces, Doc the man who asked us to join them, Addy and Mack who were a couple, Cassandra was a girl they found in a cage, Citizen Z who was at the North pole at northern light and then, then there is Murphy. Murphy had been bit eight times and survived. Why? Well because he was given an experimental Vaccine. He had special antibodies in his blood and needed to be taken to California to the CDC. That was our job, keep him safe and get him across the now wasteland of a country filled with zombies.....alive.

But let me tell you what, it was not easy getting there it took three years just to get to California. Why? You may ask. Well Murphy was not by any means an easy person to get a long with. He was a scarastic ass, selfish, only cared about himself, thought he deserved to be treated like a king. He kept running off and peiple kwpt trying to kidnap him for theirselves or aomwone who was offering them sometging big. He got on every last nerve of mine and if it wasn't for the fact that he could be the answer to a vaccine to end all this end of the world shit I probably would have killed him. But let me back track and take you through our little journey. Starting at the beginning of when we met the group. And how we ended up becoming Operation Bite Mark for Citizen Z. 

  
It's been a year since the world got over run by zombies. Me and my little brother Tom.... sorry 10k were walking up on the hill by the high school when we noticed a black truck pull in. Seven people filed out of the truck and looked to be making up a plan on what to do. While three of them went one way the others stayed bear the truck. They were fighting off the zombies when I noticed an oldee man with white hair and a white beard struggling with a zombie. "10k," I said and nodded towards the man. He understood and brought his sniper rifle up and took the shot. He of course got his mark perfectly as always. He was always a better shot than I was.

My weapon if choice was a custom bat I had made way before the apocalypse happened. It was stainless steel with spikes long enough to reach the brain all up and down it. It was red with a black handle. I was always really into zombie movies and figured I'd have a costume bat made just for the hell of it. Never thought I'd actually put it to use in a real zombie apocalypse. I also had a machete, bowie knife, and my 9mm semi automatic pistol with extra magazines all in my belt. 10k had weapons hid everywhere. The man had looked up and spotted us and then turned to fight off more zombies. 10k helped them out taking down any that got to close. 

After all the zombie close by were mercied me and 10k started walking. After fifteen minutes down the road a familiar black truck pulled up beside us. The older man with white hair popped his head out of the back window "Hey, hey there. You're that sharp shooter that saved my ass, aren't you?" The man said. 10k just looked at him. "He is, yes," I told the guy. "Oh man. I want to thank you," he said. "It's no problem," I told him. "Do you need a ride?" He asked. I looked over at 10k and he shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "Yeah, thanks that would be great," I said. 10k got in the back and the man got out and I got in the back with him and another guy. 

"I'm Doc," the man said. "Nik," I told him. "This here is Warren and Garnett, in the back is Addy, Mack and Cassandra and tgis here is Murphy," Doc said. "It's nice to meet you Nik. Thanks for saving Doc," Warren said. "Oh that was actually my brother. He's an amazing sniper always hits his mark," I said. "So where are you guys headed?" Warren asked. "Um.. no where really. We just keep moving," I told her. "Well you can cone with us. We're going to Calafornia," Doc said. "Calafornia? Why there?" I asked. "Murphy here is our cure for the zombie apocalypse," Doc told me.

I looked at Murphy "That So? And how so?" I asked. "He was bit eight times and survived," Doc said. My eyes widened and I looked at Murphy, my mouth hung open. "Dont look so surprised priness," Murphy said. "One don't call me princess and two it's hard to believe someone could be bit eight times and survive," I said. "Well you're looking at the one and only princess," he said. "Call me princess again and I'll kick your ass zombie boy," I said. Just as he was going to say something we started speeding up and ran over zombie after zombie. 

Eventually we pulled over because we were running out of gas. "Out of gas," Garnett said. We got out and stood on the side of the road. "Hey Warren we got a problem," Doc said. There was a zombie stuck up under ther wheel and axle. "That explains the pull to the left," Doc said. "What you waiting for? Kill it! Kill it!" Murphy yelled and walked away. I walked over to Murphy and stood beside him. I had to admit he was sexy probably twice my age but I always liked older men. I stood there twirling my bat in my hand. "What do you want?" He said. "Nothing just thought you looked lonely zombie boy," I said. "I'm not a zombie," he growled. "That you know of," I replied. That's when we heard motorcycles coming up the road and I noticed Cassandra turn away to hide. As they went by they looked us down "that's right keep rolling and we all live to see another day," Warren said. 

We stood on the road looking down at New York City. "Even after all this, it's still beautiful," Warren said. We turned around and headed down the road to an old junk yard and started going through the cars for gas but there was not a drop in any if them. "All these cars and there's not a drop of gas," I said.   
Addy pulled put a cam and started recording. "What ? you on vacation?" Murphy said. "Someone has to record," she said. "You know we're probably the last generation of humans one Earth," he said. "To us it's the apocalypse, to her it's the memories," Mack said. Murphy scuffed and rolled his eyes. "Would it hurt the antibodies if I kicked him the nuts?" Addy asked. "We could find out," I said. 

Doc laughed and loo ked at 10k. "So kids what's your name?" He said. "Ten thousand," he said. "That's bot a name. That's a number," Doc said. "It's my name. I made it up myself," he said. "Well supposed you have to. Does it mean anytging," Doc asked. "That's how many zombies I'm going to Kill. Already on 1,055," 10k said. " damn so what happens when you get to 1o,ooo?" Doc said. "Change my name," "to what? Twenty tgousand?" Doc asked and I snorted. 10k looked at me with a bitch face and looked at doc "Jeff. I like the name Jeff," he said. "I like your real name but okay little brother," I said and walked off. 

I found Murphy and walked up to him "I don't think you should be alone," I said. "I'm not alone Warren is over there," he said. "Do you even know how to take a Z down?" I said. "Don't need to. I have all of you," he said. "You sure about that?" I said walking closer to him so we were only a few inches away from each other. He is at least a foot taller than I am and I'm only 5'4. I looked up at him and smirked. "Would be threatening me short stack," he said. "Oh you really don't want to make it to California do you," I said look into his blue eyes. He looked back into my own blue eyes and stepped closer. "Now you wouldn't want to kill the only hope for the human race would you princess?" He said. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to my level. "I told you not to call me princess," I said. 

We stared each other down when 10k stepped up beside us "You're not going to kiss him are you? You don't know where it's been," he said. Doc, Mack, and Addy started laughing. Murphy grabbed my wrist and I let go of his shirt. We started walking back to Warren and I noticed a new guy one of the guys that passed us on the road. "He knows where we can get gas," Warren said. With that we walked back to the truck and I was stuck in the middle if Doc and Murphy. I purposely say a little closer to Murphy just to annoy him and because it's how I was with guys I found sexually attractive. "Do you mind," he said in my ear. "Do I mind what?" I said. "Getting out of my personal space," he said. "I'm sorry Murphy but there's not much room," I said and he groaned.

We had arrived at a refinery that was crawling with Zs. "This place is full of Zs," I said. We got out and Warren went over the plan and gave everyone jobs. "Nik, Doc stay here with Murphy," she said. 'Yeah sure," I said. "Hey, I'm going to go up high and keep an eye out," 10k said to me. "Alright, be careful do you understand me?" I said. "Yes, Nik I'll be fine," he said and walked off. Doc, Murphy and me all got back into the truck and doc and Murphy played go fish. "Eights?" Doc said. "Go fish," Murphy told him. "You cheated! At fucking go fish!" I said. "That's life princess," he said. Before I could say anything a few Zs started banging on the Windows. Doc got out to try and drawl them away and Murphy started freaking out. I climbed into the passenger seat. "Murphy! Calm down!" I said. He wouldn't stop and got in the driver's side and took off. "Murphy! Look out!" I yelled but it was to late and he ran into a pole. 

"Fuck!" I yelled after hitting my head on the dash. I put my hand up to my forehead only to bring it down to see blood. "Great! Now I'm bleeding because you freaked out over a couple Zs!" I yelled at him. Doc came running over and opened the passenger side door. "Nik! Are you okay?" He said. "Oh I'm fine don't worry," Murphy said. "Shut the fuck up before you become zombie foid again!" I growled. Warren and Garnett ran over and Doc helped me out if the car. "We have to get out of here that tanker is going to blow," Garnett said. We all piled into the black truck "wait where's 10k?!" I asked. Before anyone could answer he jumped in the back and we took off. 


	2. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

A couple days later we were in Philadelphia looking for a way to get a hold of CZ. We found a truck with the liberty bell on the back of it and decided to move it. Well that didn't go as planned the axle broke and the bell fell off the truck and bounced it's way down the hill taking out any Z in it's way. "You know how they say give me liberty or give me death? Well they got death my liberty," I said. Murphy looked at me along with everyone else. "She thinks she funny," 10k said. I smirked looking at him "I know I'm funny," I said. 

Now I was stuck with Murphy while everyone else went out looking for anything that could be used for good use. Mack and Addy went looking for a radio to get a hold of CZ to get coordinates. "How's your head?" Murphy asked me. "Fine," I said. "Look I don't apologize so don't ever except this again but I'm sorry," he said. I dramaticlly gasped "Oh my God! Did you just say sorry?!" I said sarcastically. A Z started coming towards us so I tightened my grip on my batand twirled it in my hand before swinging it and connecting it with the Zs head. I pulled it out and got the Zs head over and over again before turning around to look at Murphy. 

I was breathing heavy and had blood all over me now. Murphy was looking at me "Someone has anger issues," he said. "Keep at it and you'll be next!" I growled pointing my bat at him. He backed up and went to open his mouth but Mack came running up to us "Addy was taken!" He said. "What by who?" I asked. "I don't know. We found a police car and she was talking to Citizen Z when I went to take care of some Zs and when I came back she was gone. CZ said he heard people," he said. Warren and the others came back over "where's Addy?" Warren asked. "She was taken by some men," Mack said. 

I looked over at Cassandra who looked terrified. "You know sometging don't you?" I said pointing my bat at her. "No!" She said. "the hell you don't! Where is she?!" I said. "I don't know," she told me looking at everyone. "Where..the..fuck..is...she?!" I said slowly. "I don't know!" "You turned away when those bikers went passed us back in Virgina. And you seemed to know the one that was with us at the refinery," I said. "I told you I don't know those guys," she told us. "Bullshit!" I yelled at her. Mac pulled his gun and pointed it at her. "You're going to start telling me the truth or I'm going to start blowing holes in you until you do," he growled. "Mack," Warren said. "Hold this," I said shoving my bat at Murphy who held it like it was diseased. "I'll help him," I said pulling my own gun. 

"Mack, Nik," Warren said. "Do you understand me!" Mack yelled. "Mack, Nik put the guns down," Warren said. "Put the guns down," 10k came over to me and put his hand on my gun and pushed it down taking it from my hand. "You good?" He asked. I licked my bottom lip "Yeah," I said. He put it back in my holster and I grabbed my bat from Murphy. "You're going to tell us everything You know about these guys or I'll shoot you," Mack said. Cassandra looked at him "I can't go back!" She said. "Back where?!" I said. "Where?" Warren asked. "Where? Where is she?!" Mack yelled. 

"Enough! All right, Cassandra! No more bullshit! Yell us what you know. Now!" I yelled at her pushing and pinning her to the truck. "All right!" She said. "I know them. They're part of a group of survivors. A family of sorts. But more of a cult actually. Led by a man named Tobias Campbell. I can't go back there. I won't go back there." Mack got in her face "you'll do whatever the hell we need you to do to get Addy back!" He growled. "You don't know there people. They're dangerous!" She said. "So ate we," I told her. "Not like they are," she said. 

"Tobias and the others are worse than Zs. I thought I had gotten away from them, but then Travis spotted me with you," she said. "Why are you so afraid of them?" Warren asked. "You don't get it. You don't pick who you survive with. At first I thought I was lucky. They started out like everybody else. Tobias was smart. He was strong. He saved us. But then Black Summer came, and everything went to hell. Some where along the way he lost his mind, and we lost our souls. And I'm not going back thete," she finished. 

I felt sick these people didn't sound good. I started thinking the worst. Started thinking about back when I was in Mexico, I ran into some bad people who did bad things. "What're they going to do to Addy?" I said. Looking down at the ground. This couldn't happen right now. I couldn't start having a panic attack. "Tobias has this weird control over people. He can make you do terrible things," she said. "What do you mean?" Warren asked. "Rape?" I whispered. "No, he'll use her as bait," I looked at her "bait? What do they do rob people?" I asked. "Not just rob," she said. "Murder them?!" I yelled. "No! Not rape. Not murder. They don't just kill their victims. It's worse," she said. 

"Then what?" I said. "We didn't start out as cannibals," she said. "Cannaibals?" "How is that even possible?" Warren said. "Everything is infected with the zombie virus like zombie boy here," i said. Murphy glared at me. "If you kill it and eat it, you get the get the live virus. But if you eat it alive...." she said. "Oh my god!' I said. 'We were people just trying to survive. Tobias saved me. First from Zs. Then from the worst humanity. He was a good man. Then his wife got sick. She couldn't take it anymore.   
And he was never the same after that. When Black Summer came and everyone else in the world was starving he swore he would do whatever it took to keep us alive and he did," she said.

"I'm going back for Addy, " Mack said. "Hang on, Mack," Garnett said. "Garnett do not try to stop me," Mack said. "Nobody's gonna stop you. We're all going back. We just need a plan," he said. "You don't understand! These people are worse than Zs! They'll kill us all!" Cassandra yelled. "Shut the fuck up!" I told her. "Yeah she's right. We need to look at the big picture," "Shut up! Shut up! Do you know where they've taken her?" Mack asked. She took us to where they were and Garnett went up to talk to them. But they said they didn't have anyone there named Addy. Then Cassandra gave herself up so we could get Addy back. After we got out of there we went back into the city.   
  
Murphy started getting in the truck with me following him. "We're not, we're not going to leave her there are we?" Addy asked. "Addy. She lied to us," Mack said. "It almost got us killed," I told her. "Yeah and she's a freakin' Cannibal! She got what she deserved." Murphy said. "Did what she had to to survive. And you if all people would have done the same!' She said to him. "Come on, Addy is right. We can't leave her back there. You men don't know what it's like," Warren said. "What's this a chick thing now," Murphy said. "Yes!" Addy and Warren bith said. "I don't agree," I said looking at Murphy. Addy looked at me with a glare. "Sorry, but because of her you got taken and almost killed not just you but all of us," I said. In the end we need up goung back and saving Cassandra and killing Tobias and the others with the help of CZ. "If anyone asks We were never in Philadelphia," Warren said and we left. 

Now we are sitting on the side of the road. Mack was looking under the hood to fix whatever the problem with the truck was. Cassandra was standing in the back of the truck a ling with 10k who was knelt down shooting Zs with his slingshot hitting them in the forehead every time. Addy was beside the truck beside him. I was leaning on the truck with Murphy beside me. "Amish Zombies. Really? Really?" Addy said. I laughed "Really," I said. "They trying to quarantine themselves from the rest of society. Keep the Zs from spreading the infection," Garnett said. "That's before we knew Romero had it right. We all carry the virus. Didn't matter who you were or how you died," Mack said. Night of the living dead. Great movie, sucky reality," Addy said. 

"You know what I don't get, if the Zs didnt spread the infection, how did we all get infected?" I said walking to stand out in the road so I could see everyone. "Best guess. I heard it was spread by birds. Some kind of parasite piggybacked on the bird flu. Stays dormit till you die" Garnett said. "Take it from somebody who knows first hand. And the fact that they find brains delicious. When I cones to zombies no one knows nothing," Murphy said. Warren came back up from the field and nodded her head to Murphy. 'My turn," he said and went to Addy who handed him toliet paper. "Have we just met? Thank you," he said after she handed him more. "Hey, hurry up. I want to get passed DC before dark," Garnett told him. "Yeah yeah yeah," he said. 

I walked to the back of the truck and leaned on the side beside 10k. "I'm tellin ya, there ain't nothin there. No thoughts, no memoirs, no soul, nothin," Doc said. "Well they ain't dead. They want something," Cassandra told him. Yeah. Brains," Doc said. "You can't want something if your not conscious, if you don't have a soul," she said. "When my pa was wounded, he told me to the him up before he turned. Made me promise to show him mercy when he turned. Kill the brain ya know? I couldn't do it. I couldn't hurt my pa, no matter what he'd become. I stared into his eyes for the longest time, just looking for some sign he was still there," he told them. "10k," I whispered. "Did you see anytging?" Cassandra asked him. He shook his head no looking at her. "What'd you do?" Doc asked. I had tears running down my cheeks. "Killed it," he said. 

"Damn kid. You had to put down your own dad?" Doc said. "Didn't kill him. Killed it," 10k said. "But if it's not alive how did you kill it?" Cassandra said. "Piked it. Right here," he said pointing between his eyes. "My first kill. I always wish he knew, you know, some how knew I kept my promise," he said looking at me. Murphy came back up from the field and Mack got in the back with Doc, 10k and Cassandra. I put my hand on the back of 10ks head and stood on my tip toes pulling him close to me and kissed his forehead and got on the back with Addy and Murphy. 

Garnett and Warren got in the front and we drove off. I was wiping the tears off my cheeks woth my sleeve when Murphy scooted closer to me. "You alright?" He asked. I looked at him weird 'why does he care?' I thought to myself. "Yeah," I said. "Okay that's a lie," he said. 'My brother just told Doc and Cassandra about killing out dad. He shouldn't have had to do that. I'm the oldest I should have done it," I said. "Why didn't you?" He asked. "My hands were shaking so bad and I was crying so mucho couldn't see. I couldn't stop thinking about how horrible I was to him as a teenager, how I left like I did," I said. 

"Humans! Six o'clock!" Doc said tapping on the widow. "Me and Murphy turned around do see an old orange Volkswagen bug behind us. "I see them," Warren said looking in the review mirror. "Up ahead!" Mack yelled. There was Zs chained 2 cinder blocks in the middle of the road. 10k jumped out as Warren slowed down "shit!" I said. "Where's he going? Hey kid," Doc said. "What do you think? plow right through?" Warren asked. "No I don't want to wreck the truck again let's pike them and be on our way," Garnett said. "Oh what are we having a little mercy party," Murphy said. I grabbed my bat and Addy grabs hers and we got out of the truck. "Hey, leys do this quietly. That might be more nearby," Garnett said. We started walking over "wait! Wait wait wait. S9metging wrong," Cassandra said. "Yeah she's right look at their feet," I said. 

We looked behind us as the car pulled up. "All right, now drop your weapons or die right where you stand. Put down the weapons or eat brains," a guy said. We turned around to see guns pointed at us. All of a sudden one of the Zs webt down. "God, I love that kid," doc said. "Me too," i said. "Now, we just want the vehicle. All right? So give us the truck and we'll let you live to die another day," the guy said. "Give them the truck!" Murphy said. "Don't give them a goddamn thing!" Warren said. "Do the math Garnett. We have other priorities Give them the damn truck," Murphy yelled. They guy laughs "Listen to your friend there. Nobody wants to die. But we're taking that truck," he said. "Say the word, Garnett" Mack says. "Let them have it," Garnett says. Warren and I go to shoot but Garnett stops us "The truck. Let them have the truck," he says. "Smart move. All right guys, let's go! And leave the junker! They're not gonna get very far," the guys tells his friends.

"Murphy," I say and motion towards us. He walks over to me and stands there. "The guys jump in the truck and took off. The rest of us walk over to the piece of shit they left us and Warren opened the drivers side door just for it to fall off "Beautiful," she said. Warren and Garnett got In the front, Addy and Mack got in where the hood should have been, 10k and doc in the very back and Cassandra and Murphy in the back seat and then there was me. "No! No way am I doing that!" I said. "There's no choice," Warren said. I groaned and so did Murphy. I climbed in and sat on Murphy's lap. "Oh, this is awkward," I said. It made me nerves and turned all at once. "She's small so it won't hurt you Murphy," Warren said. 

Once we were situated we slowly, very very slowly drove down the road. We eventually came to a stop seeing the truck and the guys that took the truck. Everyone got out and started walking towards them. "Would it matter at all if I said don't do this?" Murphy said. No one listened and walked over except me I stayed with Murphy. "Looks like it doesn't," I said. Me and Murphy walked a little closer. It turned out that the family was the one robbing everyone else. "Well fuck," I said. They started shooting and the men went down Murphy went behind me. "You know you're like a foot taller than me, right?" I said. He put his hands up when the guy said to drop our weapons. I dropped my bat and stood there watching everyone else do the same with their weapons. The family got in the truck and took off. "Never get out of the boat," Doc said. 


	3. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

We got back in the car. Me back on Murphy's lap and this time he just pulled me down on top of him.   
"Yo, can't this thing go any faster? I'm gonna die of old age before we get to California," Murphy said leaning us forward. "You can always get out and push," Warren told him. "No, not me, sister. I'm special," murphy said laughing. "Talking to you makes me wonder about this whole saving humanity thing," I said. "Stop the car!" Doc yelled and we stopped. "Oh, it's the family," he said. They were all dead and getting munched on. "We got to get off this road," Garnett said. We got out of the car and got into the truck and took off. 

We ended up pulling over at a fast food restaurant and Addy got it to where we could talk through the speaker outside. "This is Sergeant Charles Garnett calling Northern Light. Charles Garnett calling Northern Light. Come in, Northern Light. Can you read me? Citizen Z, are you there? Over," Garnett said inti it. "Yes, this is Northern Light for Garnett. Citizen Z hitting you back. Go for Garnett," CZ said. "Thank God. We've been trying to make this work for hours," Garnett said. "What are you broadcasting on?" "Uh, Clowny the french fry guy. One of our team, Carver jerry-rigged a drive-thru camera," "Addy Carver?" "Yeah," "Is she there? I wanna say hi," "Oh, okay," Addy went over and stoid in frontvif the speaker "Hi, Addy," "Hey," "How's it going down there?" "Ummm, it's pretty eff'd up actually. How's it going wherever you are?" "Aww you know, same ol' same ol'. Busy keeping an eye on the world. What can I do for you folks?" CZ asked. "Can we get a chocolate shake and fries for ten thousand men?" Doc interrupted. 

"Could we please get on with this before the Zs find us?" Murohy said. "Wait. Is that Murphy? Outstanding. Glad to see you're still alive, sir," CZ said. "Yeah but he won't be for long if we don't get off this highway," I said. "We're in desperate need of alternate transpo. We're looking for an airplane or a chopper or a hot air balloon. Anything airborne," Garnett said. "There is one thing. I've been monitoring some random transmissions from what's left of the Emergency Headquarters for Infection Control. I can hear them, but they don't respond when I reply. And it's pretty garbled. General McCandles might still be holed up there. You're in luck. I have a visual confirmation on that chopper. It looks like it's still there," CZ said. "Where is it?" Garnett asked. "McLean, Virginia. Twenty clicks due west of Washington DC. Look for a high-rise with structural damage and a chopper on the roof," CZ told him. "Now that's a hundred miles south from here. We're going west, not south. West," Murphy said. "Do you want to get off the road or not?" I asked him. "Puppies and kittens!" Warren said. 

We got back in the truck and headed towards where CZ told us to go. We pulled up to a building with a sign out front that said Restricted Area. We drove through to see Ambulances and dead bodies everywhere. We got out and ended up having to bribe the guy in the front who only let doc in. When we heard doc yelling we forced our way in and headed up to the top in the elevator. Murohy freaked out when it stopped and as soon as it opened he ran out "I got him!" I said and I ran after him. "Murphy!" I yelled. I caught up to him and he grabbed me and pushed me up against a wall. "What the hell," I said. He put his hand over my mouth "Shut up," he said and pushed himself up against me. A Z walked by us and I held my breath. I looked up at Murphy and he looked down at me. 

"Help!" "Do you hear that?" I asked. We walked around the corner "help!" "Doc?" Murphy said. "Murphy? Is that you?" Doc said. "Doc? Are you alright?" I asked. "Nik? Help get me outta here," he said. "Hold on doc soneone will get you out," I said. "Just not us," Murohy said. And grabbed my Hans And ran off. Zs started chasing us and Murphy and I ran. "Ahhh!" Murphy screamed as we ran. We heard gun shots and then it was quiet. "Murphy! Nik!" I heard someone yell. "You don't have to shout. We're right here," Murphy said as we ran up to them hand in hamd. They all had their weapins pounted at us. "You don't sneak up on people in the zombie apocalypse, okay?" Garnett said. "Sorry, sorry. We know where Doc is," he said. "Where?" Garnett asked.

We heard the elevator ding and we looked at the door Murphy never letting go of my hand. The door opened but no one was there. Then we heard a loud thud. "Holy Shit!" I said seeing a huge ass Zombie in front of us. Mack went up and started shooting at it but it grabbed him and picked him. While everyone went to help him I stayed with Murphy. Garnett pulled a pin from the Grenade on the zombie he pushed out with her bat towards the air duct. "NO!" I screamed as we fell to the floor and buried my face in Murphy's chest. He wrapped his arm around me "Murphy, where's Doc?" Garnett asked as we all stood up. "He was down that air shaft," he said holding me to him as I cried. "What?" Cassandra said. "Let's go find that helicopter and get out of here. Now," Garnett said and we went back in the elevaror.

We got to the top floor and walked around the corner to hear the general talking "No disrespect Madame President, but you're not fit to lead a gang of kindergartners in a dirt clod war. Let alone this great nation in a moment of grave national peril like we find ourselves in now," he said. We looked around to see dead bodies in chairs around a table. "Hey, hey, hey! I've been waiting for you," he said pointing a grenade launcher at us but when he pressed the trigger it didn't go off. We eventually talked him into taking us to the chopper but with our luck it was a piece of junk. Zs came and he took them out and ended up goung over the side of the building. We went back down and met up with 10k. "Where's Doc? He asked. I looked at him and shook my head. He Just looked down and we all went to the truck. 

"Zombies," Addy said. "Oh, whoa, whoa. Oh God, is that... It's Doc," i said. "Someone's gotta..." Garnett said. 'I'll do it. Steven "Doc" Beck. I give you mercy," Warren said and shoot but missed. "What the hell, Warren? You trying to kill me?" Doc said. "You're alive?" 10k said. "Damn straight I'm alive," we all started laughing. "We thought you were dead," I told him. "Well so did I. Some numbskull threw a grenade in the air shaft I was stuck in," he sais. "Well hurry up! Here," Warren said. He took it then came to her arms open "Come on. Give me a kiss, baby," he said. We got in the truck in our usually spots. I sat in the back with just Murphy and he grabbed my hand looking at me. I smiled at him and squeezed his hand and we headed out. 

We were now in southern Illinois. We found a house and checked it out before moving into it. Doc, me and Murphy sat at the table while him and Doc played cards. 10k was sitting on a chair in the livingroom while Cassandra slept on the couch. Mack and Addy went upstairs to a room while Warren and Garnett grabbed a cup of coffee and went outside to do their shift to watch the Zs. 

"I will see your vicodin and raise you one tetracycline," doc said. "Call," murohy said. "Three of a kind," Doc said putting his cards down. "Full house. Aces high," Murphy said. "Man. That's five hands in a row," Doc said. "That's because he's cheating," I said. "If you're gonna continue to use my deck you need to quit pulling cards out your ass," Doc told him. "Oh boo hoo," Murphy said. I started laughing and rolled my eyes. "Hey shhh. Hold on, he's back on," Garnett said and turned up the radio. "Friends, I'm talking about mean weather coming in fast. Some reports of tornados. Find shelter and take cover. It's dangerous out there. More so than usual. Now back to the soothing sounds of the Apocalypse," we heard citizen Z say. 

Murphy shuffled the deck "You know after he was so wrong about that chopper weatherman's a pretty good job for that geek," he said. Mack and Addy came in from outside and leaned in the door way.   
"You're up," Mack said. "All good?" Warren asked. "Peaceful night," Addy told her. "Your stalker said there's a storm front coming in. How is it out there?" Warren asked. "Cloudy with a chance of zombie," Addy said. "Okay, you two get some rest," Garnett said. "You got it," Addy said and her and Mack walked up stairs. Warren and Garnett goung outside. 

"You playin this time princess?" Murphy asked me. "With you? No way! You cheat," I told him. "Your loss," he said. I rolled my eyes and got up walking into the living room to check on 10k. I stopped when I saw him covering Cassandra up more. He gasped when she pulled her knife and I being the protective big sister ran over pointing my gun at her. "I was just trying to cover you up," 10k said. "Put it down," I told her. She looked up at me then put her knife away. "You good?" I asked 10k. "Yeah," he said and sat back down. I glared at Cassandra and went back to the table with Doc and Murphy. 

  
Warren and Garnett came back telling everyone to pack it. "We gotta go Zs headed tgis way," Warren said. "10k!" I yelled. " I'm right here Nik," he said making me jump. "Fuck sake," I said. We all headed out to the truck jumping in and taking off. We came to a T intersection "isn't that your hometown?" Garnett asked Warren pointing to the right. She didn't said anything and turned left but soon stopped seeing a couple tornados coming towards us. She backed up and went towards her hime town. 

We pulled up outside a building and Warren and Garnett got out walking down to a bulletin board. Murphy getting out after them "Murphy get in the truck," I said. He ignored me andcwaljed down to Warren and Garnett. I missed what he said but I got out after him following. "You listen as well as a brick wall," I told him. "Its getting bad. Do you know where we can stay?" I asked Warren. 'Yeah come on," she said and we got have in the truck and headed down the road.

Pulling up outside a house Murphy made a comment that I ignored. We all got out and walked to the door. Mack started trying to break it down when Warren stopped him and held up a key. She unlocked the door and we walked inside. Murphy sat in a chair and Warren freaked out saying it was her husband's favorite chair. We walked into the kitchen to see a woman and a man. The man was bleeding from a head injury. Warren and Garnett left to go tge fire station where Warrens husband lived and Cassandra and 10k left also. I stayed with doc to try and help him with the guy. Mack was trying to see what was going on with Addy and I had no idea where Murphy went off to. 

"We should move to the basement. Mack Can you help move him?" I asked. He came over and among with me, Mack, Doc and they guys wife we moved him to the basement and laid him on a table. "We gotta take pressure off his brain. I seen this on tv" Doc said. "You're going by what you saw on tv?!" I said. While Mack checked on Addy real quick we heard a noise behind us. "Murphy?" Doc said. I walked iver to him looking him up and down "Murphy ate you alright? You don't look so good," I said. Doc made a comment about it wasn't the tone to give himself a hair cut. Mack brought over a drill so doc could drill a hole in the guys skull to relieve pressure. We got halfway and the drill bit broke off. 

Mack handed him His gun explaining to us it could be used as a hammer. Doc tapped it and the next thing I know I had blood all over me. I closed my eyes as it hit my face and flinched a little. "Great. Just perfect," I said nodding my head. We laid the man on the ground as the wind from the tornado made the window fly open and a Z flying in. Mack clised it and Garnett came down the steps. "Whetes Warren?" I asked. He turned around and started telling her name as he banged on the door. We all hunkered down on the floor until everything was over. 

After we the storm passed we walked up the steps and opened the door to see the house was gone. Garnett ran over throwing debris off Warren who looked to have been sitting in a chair and couching her wedding album. "She okay?' I asked. "Yeah," he said. We all walked out into the street saying goodbye to the couple and giving them pain meds even though doc wasn't keen on it. Half if us got in the truck while the rest of us got in the fire truck Warren and Garnett had brought back and left heading back on track to Calafornia. 


	4. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

"We were in Missouri now. Pulled alongside the road. We all stood around the truck while Murphy was in the field. Addy was on one side sitting on the edge, 10k sat on the closed tailgate, Doc was beside the tailgate with Warren on the doorstep, Garnett stood on her other side and Cassandra beside him. I stood beside doc. "No Zs insight," Mack said getting in the bed of the truck and sitting on the edge. We were all look8ng at Murphy. He was taking forever to take a piss. "Anyone else worried about Mr. Sunshine over there?" Doc asked. "How long does it take to take a piss?" I said. "I know. He's looking worse," Garnett said. "Yeah, he was pretty creepy to start with," Warren said. "Come on, guys. Give him a break. It's Apocalypse. None of us look our best. It's like one long bad hair day," Addy said. "Speaking of hair, what's with all the bald patches?" Mack asked. "Maybe that vaccine is like zombie chemo," Cassandra said. "Or maybe that vaccine isn't working," 10k said. Murphy turned slightly and looked at us.

"What do you think, Doc?" I asked. "I've seen Zs look better than him," he said. "Will he make it to California?" Garnett asked. "If we haul ass," Doc told him. "If he goes zombie, we might have to put him down," Garnett said "Dibs on piking him," Warren said. "If he turns, picking him's the least of our problems," Garnett said. Murphy turned around and we all just stood there staring at him. "Is he finally done?" I said. "What?" Murphy asked. "Pit stop's over. Let's get moving," Garnett said and murphy walked towards us. "I have a ginormous bladder. Sue me," Murphy said. We all got in the truck me in my usual spot in the back seat with Murphy and Doc. Cassandra, 10k, Addy and Mack in the bed of the truck and Garnett and Warren upfront.

"Man, I sure could use some of the Kansas City barbecue ribs about now," Doc said. "How bout you, darlin'. You're a big rib eater, aren't you?" Murphy said to Cassandra. "You know I was almost starting to feel sorry for you," she said sitting down on the bed. Murphy got in the truck and I followed shutting the door. 'You look pretty happy for someone who hasn't eaten in two days," warren said to garnert. "Could be worse," he said. "Really?" She said. "We're still alive, aren't we?" He said. "You were always a glass half full kinda guy. It's what I love about you," you said laughing.

I leaned closer to Murphy "Are you alright? You seem well not good," I whispered so he could only hear me. "I'm fine princess don't worry," he said. "Well I don't want to wake up to you eating me," I said. He looked at me and smirked leaning down "you'd like it if you woke up to me eating you princess trust me," he whispered in my ear. My eyes widened and pushed him. I could feel my face getting hot. "Not even in your dreams," I said. I was flustered and kinda turned on to be honest. 

"Actually I'm looking forward to getting some food and a hot shower at Province Town," Garnett said. "Well don't get your hopes up. We don't even know if this place still exists," Murphy said rubbing his head. "Hammond had it marked on his map as a resupply place. And if his contact there is the same Major Williams from my National Guard days, we might actually get some help," Garnett said. "So we're relying on the map of a dead guy?" Murphy said. "In case you forgot that dead guy was a hero who died protecting you," I said. "Just because he's dead doesn't make him a hero," Murphy said. "Well I hope Province Town does exist because we're out of just about everything but hope," Garnett said. 

We drove down the road and were coming up to a Z holding the head of another Z. 10k got the head then the Z holding the head as we drove passed. We drove into a gated camp with roadblocks in front of the gate that said Province Town. "Doesn't look like anyone's here," I said. "Surrender all weapons?" I heard 10k say and I chuckled knowing all the weapons he had. 'Are they serious?" Mack said. "Looks like," "What do you wanna do?" Warren asked. "Their town, their rules. Looks like we don't have much of a choice," Garnett said. Warren pulled forwards and a few people with guns came out.

"Stop right there! This is a private compound. I'm gonna have to ask you to turn around and go back the way you came," I woman shouted. Garnett got out "I'm looking for Major Wiliams. Joe Williams," he said holding his hands in the air. "And who are you?" She asked. "I'm Sergeant Charles Garnett, Georgia National Guard. We've known each other going back prez," he said. "Wait there. Your crew stays in the truck. They try to get out or we see a weapon, we'll fire" she said. "Easy everyone. Charlie's got it under control," Warren said. "So you're calling him Charlie now?" Murphy asked. "Yeah, and I'm gonna start calling you my bitch if you don't shut up," she told him. I burst out laughing "Oh my God! She burned you," I said. 

A man walked out and Garnett started talking to him. "Haven't seen anyone east of the Mississippi for over a year. How many of you are there?" The man said. "Eight. Including a doctor," Garnett told him. "Real doctor? Sort of. He's watched a lot of E.R." Garnett said and Doc popped out the window and waved. "All right. Come inside and tell me your story. We'll get you some food. But the truck stays outside. Let them in," the guy said. 'And of course, you'll have to check your weapons,"

We got out of the truck and walked over to the window where they took our weapons. They checked us with metal detectors to make sure we weren't hiding anything. "Just make sure we get these back," Mack said as he handed over his gun. "Why is this not making me feel any safer?" Addy said handing her bat and belt over. "Looks like it's seen a little action," the guy said. And she laughs. "Ex prison guard?" Warren asked the woman with the detector. "TSA." She said. "Just like Dodge City," Doc said. "We have our reasons," the guy Garnett was talking to said. "Makes sense. Strong on the outside. Safe on the inside," Garnett said. I walked over handing the guy at the window my belt and bat. He raised his eyebrow at me looking at the bat "costume made so I better get it back," I said. 

10k was next and started handing his rifle over then his slingshot, his knives, and other guns. The gut just looked at him. I chuckled and shook my head. He walked over and the lady glided the metal detector down his leg and he went off. He went back and I started laughing as he pulled the chain out of his pants. Then Murphy walked over and the woman checked him. He winked at her when it didn't go off and walked out the door. He walked over to me and leaned down "why does your brother have a chain in his pants?" He said. "He says it's because you never know," I told him. 

Joe walked us inside and showed us around. We went to the cafeteria and got food and sat at a table. 10k sat at the end and I sat beside him with murphy on my other side and Doc beside him. Addy, Mack, and Cassandra on the other side of the table. "I'm starving," I said. "You're always starving. You always used to eat," 10k said. "Yeah and never gain weight," I laughed. " Dude. Dude Slow down they're nor going to take it from you," Addy told Mack. "Murphy you sure you don't want brains," I said. "Shut up princess," he said. I smirked "you're lucky I don't have my gun," I told him. 10k got up and started walking towards a door a girl went out of. "Hey, where are you going," I said grabbing his hand. "I'll be back," he told him and squeezed my hand before leaving. 

Warren came over and sat down beside me where 10k once was and Garnett sat beside Cassandra across from Warren. "So... We got the lowdown on the sleeping situation. There's a room that two or three of us can share, and there's a communal bunk," she said. "Dibs on the room," Murphy said and we looked at him. "What? Be less risk of anyone figuring out who I am," he said and I rolled my eyes. "I think we should give it to those two," Doc said pointing to Warren and Garnett. "What, no, no, no. We're not a..." Garnett said. I and Addy laughed.   
"Yeah, you guys take it," I said. "Yeah," Addy said. "Is it that obvious?" Garnett said. "Well... If we're gonna do the time, we may as well do the crime," Warren said and stood up. They went off and we all just laughed and continued eating. 

"Fella seems pretty popular for a guy who just got kicked outta here," Doc said. All of a sudden the guy jumped up on the table. "Listen to me, all of you, for I have good news. The major didn't believe in the word of Jacob. But he will. All of you will be given another chance to hear his word and join the Resurrection Church," he said. "What are you doing? Get down from there," the guy beside him said. He pulled a cross out from his shirt and pulled the top off. "He's got a weapon!" Someone yelled. "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will," the guy on top of the table said as he slit his throat. "Hiky shit," I said. "He's gonna turn," Mack said. He turned Z and jumps on someone bitting into his face. "Damn it," I said. 

People were running and screaming. "Murphy let's go!" I yelled and grabbed his hand and we ran. Come on! Murphy! Murphy!" I yelled as he stopped. The Z came up and grabbed him but stopped and looked at him. Murphy pushed him off and grabbed me running into a stairwell. "Murphy we can't leave the others!" I said. "Just run!" He yelled. We ran up the stairs and out a door. We ran into showers running into a woman. "Die you freakin' Z!" She yelled swinging something at us. "Human! Human. Human," Murphy said gold his free hand up. "Sorry. You look like one of them," she said. 'You don't look so good yourself, sweetheart," he said. "Look, we need some help," he said. "Okay. We'll stick together. Three of us might have a chance," she said. 

Next thing I knew Murphy was pulling me to him and wrapping his arms around me a Z came runn8ng in. They ignore us and went straight to the woman who took it down beating its head in. I felt murphy shaking as he held on to me my back now against his chest. "Why didn't you help? Why didn't it attack you?" She said. "Are you part of this?!" She asked holding he little board up at us. "No! No." He said and started backing us towards the door. Two more Zs running passed us and to the woman. "Help me! For God's sake!" She screamed and we backed out the door. More Zs running passed us. 

Murphy let go of me and grabbed my hand and ran down the hall. "Find the others!" He said and let go of my hand and ran off. I ran outside running into the others. "Hey..." I said and stopped. There were guns on us. The guy led us to the cage that was in the middle of the yard. Let made us get on our knees and zipped tied our hands behind our backs. "The last of the Resurrected have been secured," the guy that had the gun on us said to a guy wearing a long white robe. "And those who died today have the honor of entering into grace ahead of us. Blessed is the path before them. Blessed will their journey be," he said to the guy. 

"Brothers and sisters, I know you have hate in your hearts right now and do not come willingly to this test of faith. But today each of you will become part of the New Resurrection Church. You must choose how you are served. You may join the living flock and spend your days serving the Resurrected," The weird guy in the robe said. I looked around us seeing the cage full of Zs. I leaned towards doc "where's 10k," I whispered. "He and Cassandra went to find somewhere higher up," he said. "Or your souls taking the next step on their journey to eternal life. The time has come for you to choose. Join me and walk among the living or follow this blasphemer who thought he could oppose the righteous and now walks among the dead," the robed guy said. 

"Now don't feel sorrow for the Major, brothers, and sisters. Although we stood against the man he was, we take joy in his choice to join the Resurrected! Blessed is the path before him!" He continued. "What choice?" I said. "To live with you lunatics or die and become a zombie?" Garnett said. "I don't know your name, brother. But I welcome you to the resurrection church. With us you will know everlasting joy and peace" he said. "There was peace here. Joe Williams, the man you killed, gave you peace. This was a good place. This was a safe place," Garnett said. "And it can be again. It's not too late. Put down your weapons. Let's live the way that people are supposed to. Helping one another, working together. It's not too late. Put down your weapons. Let us free. We'll help you. The Resurrected aren't any closer to God than you and I are," he finished. "I envy you, brother. The time for you to walk among the Resurrected is near," robe guy said. "Charlie," Warren said and the guy with the gun hit her knocking her over. 

"I'm gonna kill you, you psychotic bastard," I said. 'Don't you worry, sister. You won't be far behind Charlie," he said. Shoot him. I 10k found somewhere he could get a shot at this asshole. "Rejoice as both of you will walk before me the on-road to every lasting life. He said and held his cross knife to Garnett's throat. "Listen, Jacob. Kill me, resurrect me, but spare the others." He said. "Don't be afraid, brother. I send you to a better place. Blessed is the path before him! I am the new resurrection and life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live," Jacob or robe guy as I like to call him said. He was about to slit Garnett's throat when I heard someone scream "Stop!"

I turned to see Murphy in the cage of Zs. I smiled "that crazy bastard," I said. "If you think the Resurrected are one step closer to heaven then prepare to meet your new god," he said and ripped his shirt open. "Come, brother. Step away from the Resurrected. That's no place for a mortal human. Come join our flock. All are welcome," Jacob said. "Join your flock," Murphy said and stepped out of the cage. "I am not one of the Resurrected. I'm your messiah," he said. "That's blasphemy, brother. We can all see you're one of the living," Jacob told him. "Eight times!" Murphy yells. "I was bitten and did not turn! Eight times I was infected by their bloody saliva. And yet here I stand before you. And I am here to tell you that he is a false prophet! For I am the true incarnation of the Resurrected!" Murphy said. "What the hell is he doing?" Warren said. "I have no idea," Garnett replied. 

"Kill the blasphemer," Jacob said. But the bites, Jacob," the guy beside him said. "He's a false prophet!" Jacob said. "I can prove it! I can prove that my words are true," Murphy says. "Tell us, blasphemer. How can you possibly prove this outrageous lie?" Jacob asked. "I'll show you," Murphy told him and grabbed a Z out if the cage. "Observe Ye of little faith," Murphy says and sticks his fingers near the Zs mouth. "Jesus," Garnett said. "No. Just Murphy," I said. "Okay, that's enough of that," Murphy said and put The Z back. "The Resurrected will not attack me because they love and fear me. Behold my flock. There's your proof, brothers and sisters! Now let us go, Jacob before my flock resurrects all of you!" Murphy yells. "Jacob, what if he's speaking the truth?" "He's no messiah. I'll prove it. There's one last test for you to pass, blasphemer," Jacob said. 

"A woman came over and handed Jacob a gun. "A bullet to the heart will reveal the truth!" Jacob said and pointed it at Murphy. Murphy backed up against the cage. "No!" I yelled and got up but Warren pushed me out of the way going for Jacob but got knocked down. Garnett jumped in front of Murphy just as Jacob pulled the trigger and his Garnett instead. "Charlie. Charlie." Warren yelled. She went over to him. 'You'll be ok," she said as gunfire erupted around us. Cassandra pulled up outside the gate and grabbed cutters and cut the fence. Doc cut the zip ties and we ran for the fence. I grabbed Murphy "Come on! Warren, we have to go," I yelled. "No," she sobbed.

"We have to go now!" Mack said grabbing her. "We can't let him turn! No! We have to give him mercy!" Warren cried. "There's no time!" Doc said as he and Mack dragged her to the truck. "No! Let me go! No! Wait a minute!" She cried. 'There's no time," doc said. "No. No. Wait! Wait!" Warren kept crying. "Come on. Come on. Come on." Addy said. "We have to go, 10K!" Cassandra yelled and he ran down to us. Addy, 10k and Cassandra got in the bed and I got in the back with Murphy and Doc, Mack drove. "Stop Warren said and Mack stopped the truck. Warren got out going to the back. "What is she doing?" Murphy said looking out the back window. Warren grabbed 10ks rifle "Charles Garnett, I give you mercy," she said and pulled the trigger. 

  


  



	5. Chapter 5

Doc switched places with Warren and she got in the back with me and Murphy. I looked out the window then leaned my head on Murphy's shoulder. "Thank you by the way," I said. "For wait?" he asked. "Saving me," I said. He looked down at me and smiled "Well it was either that or let you die and 10k kill me," he said. "True," I smiled. 

We drove for hours eventually stopped and got more gas. Addy and Mack finding a small bike and riding that. Then back on the road we went. The truck started to smoke and we had to pull over. Warren wasn't doing so good with the loss of Garnett. "Radiator?" Mack asked. "Yeah," Doc replied. "Fixable?" Mack asked him. 'Don't know." Doc replied. I stood beside Murphy leaning beside the hood. "Gee, if we only had a mechanic," murphy said. "You got to let her deal, man. She's got that post-traumatic stress," doc said. "She's got post-traumatic stress?" Murohy said. "The whole world's got post-traumatic stress," Murphy said. "Actually there isn't anything post about it," i said. "We all got plain ol' present tense, all traumatic, all stress all the time. What makes her so special?" Murphy finished. 

Murphy walked over to Warrens side of the truck. "Hey. Wake up. Hey." He said tapping her. "Murohy leave her alone," i said walking over to him. She looked at us and then turned away. 'No, you can't just check out. We got a job to do. And I am running out of time. And California is still 2,000 miles of bad road away," he told her. "And we are not gonna make it without you. Cuz it's not like they're gonna follow me or the old man or the wonder twins, or princess here out there," Murphy continued. She didn't say anytging "Hey," he said. She flared at him and turned further away. "Come on leys just let her be," I said and grabbed his arm pulling him back up with the others. 

Addy and Mack decided to go up ahead to see if they could find help. Doc wasn't to keen on that tginking we should all stay together. 10k was under the truck. "I found the leak in the radiator hose. Taped it up a little bit, but we're not going anywhere unless we get some water in there," he said coming out from under the truck. Doc got all the water We had and started dumping it in the radiator. He wwnt to frab the bottle from Murpby but he pulled it away. "I get thirsty," he said. "We all get thirsty," I said. "I'll drive," 10k said. "What?!" I said. "Knock yourself out, kid," doc said. "Wait what?!" I said. 

We got got in the truck me, cassandra in the back with Warren and Murphy and Doc up front with 10k. 10k started it and took off. "We are going to die," i said. "Whoa! Whoa! Easy there, kid! Easy! Who taught you how to drive?" Doc asked. "Ahhh... no one," he said. "Hands on the ten and the two," I said. Cassandra grabbed her seatbelt and put it. "And easy on the gas," Doc said. "How about someone else drives so we don't die," I said. "Shut up Nik," 10k said. "You have never driven before!" I said. 

"Go right," Murphy said. "Why right?" I asked. "Why not?" Murphy said. "No Zs. That's a good sign," Doc said as we passed a sign with a red circle with a Z in the middle and a line across it. We passed another sign "Getting interesting. Liquor! Now you're talking," I said. "Murphy, we're gonna have to let you navigate more often," Doc said. Doc and Murphy laughed. "Congratulations, son. You're now the designated driver," Doc said. "What's that mean?" 10k said. "It means step on it!" Doc said. Doc and Murphy laughed again. 'It also means I'm get drunk like old times," I said. 10k floored it and flew down the road. 

We pulled up and a guy told us to stop. "Y'all armed?" He asked. "Obviously," Cassandra said. "Good. We don't have time to babysit anyone," he said and 10k drove forward. "Guns and liquor. What could go wrong?" Murphy said. "Did anyone say liquor?" Warren said. Yup. I could use some whiskey," I said. We got out if the truck and started walking up to a woman. "Welcome to S&S Limited, the finest gun show in the west. Entry fee is seven," she said. "Seven what?" Doc asked. "Bullets. Oxy. Grams of whatever DIY super fun time substance you got," she said. "Well I think I got some crystal back in the truck. It's the good stuff too," dic said. 

"Yeah. Back off with the toilet bowl cleanser meth. We only take that genuine vein splittin' take you right out of this beautiful apocalypse and into a hell-hole meth," the guy guy beside the woman said tilting his hat up. "Well slap my ass and call me Sally if it ain't Sketchy McClain," Doc said. "How'd you get way out here?" He asked the guy. "We traded our way up in the world. Here. You see zombies, they move in mysterious ways. We were on our last legs when we came upon this truckload of sweet weaponry under attack. We had to give the former owners mercy. And in return, they gave us this wonderful vehicle with enough gas to get us here to Kansas," sketchy said as we followed him. 

  
"Oh. Hey, Skeezy! Look what the living dead dragged in!" Sketchy yelled. A tall thin lanky looking gut came walking over. "Doc! I heard you were toast back at Camp Blue Sky! Don't just stand there. Get your ass in here. We need another sucker" he said. "Bite me, Skeezy," "Hey, I got to show you the new and improved Z-Whacker," skeezy said and sketchy held up a pork sticker. "Hey, speaking of Z-Whacker what happened to the girl you were with? Did she..." sketchy asked. So this is who Addy got her bat from. "No, man. We're still traveling together. They went ahead looking for help. Kinda thought they'd end up here," Doc said. No, haven't seen them. And I'm pretty sure I'd notice," sketchy said. He looked at me then my bat that was on my shoulder. "Nice bat. Where'd you get it," he asked. I raised my eyebrow. "Had it costume made when I was in Japan way before this shit," I told him and he nodded "nice," 

"Here we've got our latest innovations in zombie fighting technology. Small arms," sketchy said picking yp a hand gun. He throw it in the air "Hot potato," he said and skeezy caught it. "Siege weapons. Brain-obliterators. You name it, we got it. Just sit back, relax, and forget about the apocalypse," he finished. "Aren't you worried about the Zs?" Cassandra asked. "Look around. We're in the middle of nowhere Kansas. We're surrounded by hundreds of square miles of nothing but fallow farmlands. There's no Zs here. Nothing for them to eat. They've all moved on to the big cities. Don't you worry. I'll protect you," he said and looked at you and winked. "I just throw up in my mouth," I said and 10k laughed. 

"Yeah, but anyway, if one were to come amble by, to say we're prepared is an understatement, right? Uh, over there is the FU-Bar. Home to the finest and probably actually the only corn whiskey and moonshine between here and the Miss..." sketchy started. Warren walked passed him straight to the bar. "Whoa. Somebody's thirsty," he said. Murphy followed "I really need some whiskey let's hurry this up and I'll go after them. "Listen man, we need a new vehicle. Ours is dying a slow death. You think you could help us out?" Doc asked. "You know, for old time's sake?" "No can do, my friend. I'm an entrepreneur, not a philanthropist. But there might be a way you can help yourself. Our first annual live zombie shooting contest," sketchy said. "What's the prize?" I asked knowing 10k would win it. "Hey, Vernon. Show our friends here first prize," sketchy said to skeezy. 

The skeezy jumped up in the truck and grab a 59 cal. 10ks face lite up "Wow. That a real 50 caliber M82 Barret?" He asked. "Genuine. Plus we'll even throw in a few hundred rounds of shells," sketchy said. "Seems like a little overkill," I said. "Yeah. But there's a lot of guys who like their toys. A lot of guys who might be willing to trade a vehicle for a sweet piece of steel like that 50. You know what I mean?" Sketchy said. "Where do I sign up?" 10k asked. "You think you got what it takes, little man?" Starchy asked. "My brother could kill a Z at 50 yards away with a rubber band and a paper clip," I said clapping a hand on 10ks shoulder. "All right. Sign ups in the FU-Bar," sketchy told us. "If you do win and you want to trade it for a bad mama jama vehicle, you wanna talk to a guy named Wannamaker. Oh and if you want side action talk to Vernon. But do not bet against that guy. Darren Cooper. Ex Ranger Sniper. Fifty confirmed kills in Afghanistan. Lethal as they come," 

I looked at 10k "Hey, you got this. You're an excellent shot I know you'll win. I'm going to go stay with Murphy and Warren," I told him. "Alright. Don't get black our drunk like you normally would I don't want to carry your ass," he said. I laughed and we walked to the bar. Murphy came up to us "Hey. You got to do something about her. I'm not waiting for anybody," he said. "I know, Murphy. Keep your shorts on," Doc told him. "She just lost someone she loved again," I told him. "Have you seen a guy in here named Wannamaker?" Doc asked. "What, are we making friends now?" Murphy said. Doc asked for the guy and was pointed to a guy. Murphy sat in a couch and I went to the bar. "Whiskey please," I said. As the guy got my drink I put my hand on Warrens shoulder "I'm here," I said and grabbed my drink goung and sitting beside Murphy. What cabby say I liked the guy but I'd never admit that to anyone else. 

While Doc talked to the drunk guy about getting a vehicle I scooter closer to Murphy. "We're going to get you to Calafornia. You're going to be just fine I promise I'll make sure of it," I told him taking a sip of my whiskey. "We need to get Warren to snap out of it," he said. "What Don't trust me with your life," I said. "You threaten my life on a daily basses princess," he said. "Yeah you're right I do. But to be far you piss me off a lot. But for real Murphy I owe you. If it wasn't for you I'd probably be dead. So I'll get you there myself I have to," I said. "Sounds like you like me princess," he said putting his arm around my shoulder. "In your dreams zombie boy," I said smirking. I knocked back the whiskey and put my hand on his knee "I'm going to get more whiskey," I said and pushed myself up. 

"Can I get more whiskey please," I said to the man behind the bar. I sat down beside Warren "You know Garnett died a hero. He saved not just Murphy but the rest of us too. He always made sure to do what he thought was best for everyone. He took on the responsibility to get Murphy to Calafornia because he wanted to help save humanity. He was a selfless, caring, loving man and we all miss him. I can't imagine how you're feeling but we are all here for you. We need your help to get Murphy to Calafornia because if anyone can do it it's you. You're the most badass woman I've met no one can stop you or get in your way. So if you need to drink your feeling away right now then do that I'll even sit here and drink with you because that's something I used to do before all this but eventually you're going to have to snap out of it Warren or it'll kill you," I said downing my whiskey. She didn't say anything for a couple minutes then she looked at me "Thanks Nik," she said and I nodded my head. 

I looked behind me to see they left for the shooting contest. "Shit. Murphy's gone," I said. I just sighed and turned around. "I swear I'm going to kill him one of these days," I said. The man at the bar kept pouring Warren drinks. "You lost someone?" He said as he filled her glass. "Seems like that's all we ever do these days. Makes you wonder if it's even worth being around people anymore. Was it family?" He said. Warren didmt sau anything just looked at him. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You're gonna need a few more of these," he said filling her glass again. 

The man doc was talking to walked through the door. "You okay Forman? You don't look so good," the guy begins the bar said as he filled my glass. "You bleeding?" He asked. "I'm more than bleeding, you idiot. I'm bit! Some zombie-looking mother bit me!" Forman said. I looked at Warren and downed my drink 'fucking Murphy' i thought. "If it was a zombie, you'd have turned,"the bar guy said. "I don't know what he was. But he wasn't right! He's like some kind of animal or something. He took the keys to the Formanmobile. And he'll steal your stuff too. And who knows who else he's gonna bite. You. You. You. I'm finding that dude and I'm taking him out before he has a chance to bite anyone else. Who's with me?!" Forman yelled. 'Fuck," I thought to myself and downed another glass of whiskey. 

The people cheer getting up and following Forman. "Let's get him!" "We'll get him!" "Let's go!" They say. "Anything I need to know?" Bar guy asks us. "It's not a zombie," Warren said downin her drink and puttingvhis glass down. I knocked one more glass back and got up "I'll go find him and save his stupid ass," I said and grabbed my bat running out of the bar. I saw Murphy surrounded my the Forman and his guys. "Shit," I said. They had a gun pointed at his head. I saw Doc and Cassandra looking at him too.   
"No!" I heard doc yell and Cassandra grabbed the guys wrist making him shoot somewhere else. "Murphy! Let's go!" I yell and grab him. I was going to keep my promise and make sure his stupid ass didn't get killed. 

Shooting was going on then someone yelled "Zombies!" I ran with Murphy and Doc and we hid behind the truck. "I swear Murphy," I said. Doc and I kept looking at Murphy was funny "What?" Murphy said. "You bit that guy?" Doc said. "No. No. It was just a fight," Murphy told us. "Well what'd you fight him with? Because he was bleeding. A lot like a hell of a lot," I said. "I dunno. He was drunk. I didn't see. I tried to help him, and then he accused me of stealing from him," he said. "You tried to help him?" I said. Murphy nodded his head. "Bullshit," I mumbled. "Come on, man. Level with me," Doc said. 

"Screw it. We need a vehicle, and we need it more than he does. Because I'm the savior of humanity. Remember? Priority number one. You said you'd help me Nik. So we do what we got to do. And sometimes we steal stuff," Murphy said. "Did you bite him?" Doc asked. "Doc, you know me. I am not an animal," Murphy said lookingcat us. "What happened to your tooth?" Doc asked. "It fell out while he was biting someone," I said and snapped my teeth laughing. "Look. Stay here. I'm gonna go get the others. I'm very disappointed. Nik stay with him," Doc said. "Will do Doc," I said and had us get in the truck and he left. After Doc was gone Murphy opened the door and started jogging off And i was quick to follow. "Damnit Murphy!" I hissed. 

I followed him through the cars and saw him run to Forman. I stopped and stood back and watched him. He knelt down pulling form and shirt down then lifted his eyelid up. "You didnt turn," he said. 'Didn't turn how is that possibly' I thought. Then he dug into the guy and pulled something out and started hesitating to bring it to his mouth. 'God please don't' I said to myself. He did and I gagged but then realized I was right he did lose his tooth from hitting him. "Murphy!" I said he turned around and looked at me. "Let's go now!" I said and we ran off back to the truck. "I'm not goung to say anyrhing," I said. "You smell like whiskey," he told me. "Yeah I may have a two for six glasses," I said. 

Everyone came and got in the truck except 10k. "Where's 10k?" I said. "How long came we got?" Doc said. 'Not much," Warren said. "10k!" I said as he ran up. But then a Z grabbed him "No! 10k!" I said climbing on to Murphy and lwaning out the window pointing my gun. "Get him!" He yelled struggling with the Z. "I don't have a shot s oneine help him!" I cried. Then there was a shot and the Z had a huge hole in its face. I looked over to see a dark haired girl with the 50 cal smiling at 10k she looked to be his age. I sighed and fell back onto Murphy's lap. "Ten let's go!" I yelled and got off Murphy and sat back between him and Cassandra. Doc got out and grabbed him and drug him to the truck and Warren got in. We took off and opened forward and wrapped my arms around his shoulders from begins. "You scared me," I said. "I'm sorry," he said grabbing my hand and kissed it. I missed his head and fell back in my seat as we drove away. 


	6. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

We were in an abandoned town in Nebraska just sitting and walking around. It was hot and we had no foid or water. "Water isn't just going to find you jyst sitting there," Murphy said to Warren. "Why are you so freaking chiper?" Warren asked him. I was laying on the ground beside 10k look8ngvup at them "Yeah anyway," I said. "I was wondering that myself," he said. "Maybe it's because I reserve my precious bodily fluids," "right that's totally it," I said. 

You heard a rumbling noise and looked to your right where 10k was. "What is that?" He said. He started sitting up "is it a earth quack?" "More like a zombie quack," Doc said. I sat up and stood looking down the road. There was a big form of dust coming towards up and quick. "Shit," I said. "I suggest we run for it," Murphy said. Doc helped Cassandra and Murphy started running but Warren sat back down. "Can't. I'm to dehydrated," she said. "No time. Come on," Murphy said and helped her. 10k grabbed me and we helped each other while doc help Cassandra.  
  
We ran across the street to a Mortuary. "In here! Cone on!" Warren yelled. She opened the door and we ran inside. Two guys came running after us only one making it inside before Warren closed the door. The Zs slammed aga8nst the door "holy shit!" I breathed out "way to much exercise in the zombie apocalypse," 10k laughed and nudged me. "What're we going to do now? That door isn't going to last long," I said. We all sat around the small office. We were tired, hungry and dehydrated. "So that's it you're all going to lay down and die?" Murphy said. "Not much we can do Murphy," I said. He knelt down in front of doc "Doc!" He said and nudged his foot startling him. "Knock it off Murphy," Warren mumbled from the desk where she was sitting with her head down.

I was laying on the floor beside 10k. He was on his stomach his face smashed to the floor. I laid on my stomach with my head and lefr cheek on his back.  
"Three days without water, man. The human body hits the wall," Doc said. "There must be thousands of them," cassandra commented. "Millions. They're migrating," rhe guy from earlier said. "Migrating to where?" Warren asked. "South for the winter," he said. "Zs don't like the cold," 10k said. "Kid's got it. We had a place up in North Dakota near Fort Yates, quiet little place right on the river. Couple dozens of us having a go. I mean, zombie bison every once in a while, but that was as bad as it got. Then the rumbling started and never stopped," strange man said. "Well where'd they come from?" Murphy asked and I looked at the no name guy.

"Refugee camp up in Alberta. Over a million people. No food. No [water.It](http://water.It) got ugly. They all turned in a week," he said. "We shoulda kept running," Murphy said. "You couldn't get around them?" Warren asked. "This herd is miles wide. I mean it's got a mind of its own. You can't move fast enough to get around it. And every single thing it overruns just adds to its crowd, you know fast zombies, healthy zombies, like the ones that just got my friend Buck," they guy said pulling a flask out of his bag. " Hey man, you gonna share that with the class?" Doc asked. "It ain't water," he said. "Pass it around, whatever it is," Warren told the guy and he handed it to Doc "Go easy on it. Homemade hooch ain't for everyone." Doc took a drink "Easy man," he said. I took the flask and took a drink "fuck," I said taking another sip. "Come on. It's got to last me," the guy said andvi flipped him off.

"Anti-freeze and..." doc said. "Castor oil," the guy said and u nodded my head. The Zs were putting a lot of weight on the door and i could hear it cracking. I atpod up "thats not goung to hold to much longer," i said. "We've got to get out of here," no name guy said. "He's right," Murphy told us. "Okay, this room isn't secure. We got to find some place more secure," warren said standing up. "10k get up lets go," i said and nudged him with my foot. "What's back there?" I asked walking over to Murphy. "Morgue," Murphy said. "Let's go," warren said. "You heard the lady! Let's go!" Murphy yelled. "Yeah, yeah, all right," Doc said and no name cocked his shotgun. "10k now!" I said and he got up. We walked back into the morgue seeing six draws and a white metal table. "Nuh-uh, no way. This place is a death trap," no name said.

We heard glass break and as Murphy came back shutting the door. He put his ear to the door and listened. Doc laid on the table, Warren sat on a stool, 10k and Cassandra sat on the floor by the draws, no name stood at the door with his shotgun, I stood by the table with Doc and murohy looked out a window. "I wonder where they're all goung," he said. "No where they're zombies," no name said.   
"Be glad they don't have a leader," Murphy said. "That you know of," I mumbled and he looked at me before looking back out the window. The growling and pounding at the door continued.

"Now what?" Murphy asked walkung back over. "We wait them out," Warren said. "We can't just stay here and wait to die," he said. I heard scratching from one of the draws and looked over. "Do you hear that or is that just in my head?" 10k asked. "No I heard heard it too," I said and the scratching continued. "I hope it's rats," Cassandra said. "I think it's coming from in here," 10k said. I walked over to cassandra and 10k as doc sat up. "Awww, damn. How's a guy supposed to relax with all that going on?" He said. "I'll open it. You pike it." Doc said to 10k. "Don't open that drawer. Just leave it alone," no name said. 'Calm down. Fucking pussy," i said.

Doc got ready putting his hand on the handle "One. Two. Three," he said and opened the door but nothing was there. I listened to the scratching and pointed to a draw "I think it's coming from this one," I said. Doc grabbed the handle and pulled it open. A Z lunged at him grabbing a hold of him and and 10k stumbling back. Warren came over and shot it point blank in the head. "You okay?" She asked Doc. "Yeah," he said shovong the body back into the draw. "Feel free to help out next time, Murphy," he said turning to him. "You got an ear in your hair," 10k said to cassandra. "What's new?" She said taking it out.

  
The pounding got louder and louder and the door started to crack and rattle. "They're coming in," no name said. "Settle down," warren told him. She waljed over and opened on of the draws nodding to 10k. He reached in and pulled the draw out and she looked at cassandra. "I don't know," she said. "We don't have much choice," Warren said. "No way in hell am I getting in that thing," no name said. "Well this is gonna be fun," Doc mumbled. Cassandra laid down on the table "I don't want to die in here," she said. "Well you ain't gonna live out here," i said. "I know," she said and you pushed her in and closed the door.

Warren opened another one and it was empty "After you, kid. Age before beauty," Doc said. "Wait there are only five draws and six of us," I said. "You can share one with me no name said smirking. "Looks like we're sharing little brother," I said. 10k got in and then I climbed up laying beside him facing of him. It was awkward being so close but I'd rather be with my brother then creep guy. "I hate this," I whispered putting my face in 10ks chest. I could feel panic settling in. I felt him wrap his arm around me and rub my back 'just listen to my heartbeat," he whispered in my ear. I did as he said and it helped calm me and I started falling asleep.

10k was snoring and I could here the Zs outside walking around running into stuff, growing and moaning. I heard banging then I heard what's his face "Get out of here! Go away!" He said and banged on the door. "Try to breathe, man. Just breathe," Doc whispered. "There's no air in here. I got to get out of the darkness. I can't take it," Rick head said. "Shit the fuck up," I whispered harshly. "If we all go at once, we can overpower them," he said. "No. No, man. No one's going. Chill, man. Chill," Doc said. "One. Two," dumbass started to count. "Otis, be cool man. Be cool," Doc told him. Otis? I must gave missed that. "Man shut up and stay put," I said.

I heard his gun cock "Three," he said. "Fuck, well he's dead," I said as I heard him kick his door open. Then his horried screams came and I buried my face into 10ks chest again. He of course didn't even move All we could hear was munching and groaning. I felt 10k tighten his grip and I looked up "he deserved it," I said. "Moron," we both said and chuckled. "I think Murphy left I heard Warren arguing with him," I said. Eventually the groaning, munching, shuffling and banging went away.

"Hey!" I heard. Murphy? He came back. I could hear a Z hissing l8ke he was talking to Murphy.   
"They've gone?" I heard Warren ask. "Yeah," Murohy said. "You came back?" She said. "I did," he replied. "Where'd you get that?" I heard her ask. "Took it... from a dead family," he said. "Oh. Thank you," she said. "Yeah. Oooh, yeah," she said again. They came over and opened the draws and 10k got out the helped me. "You left?" I said walk8ng over to Murphy. "Yeah, but I brought food and water back," he told me. "You still left," I said.

We sat at the autopsy table and ate. Cassandra and Warren were on one side and 10k and Doc on the other while Murphy was at the end and sat beside him and Doc. "Murphy, how did you do this?No, I don't even want to know. I take back everything 10K said about you," Doc said and i chuckled "which was a lot bot so nice things," I said. "Well, you know I thought they got Warren already. No offense, but you were almost dead. But Murphy, man you are unreal. Where'd they all go? How many did you kill? Are we gonna go outside and see them piled like ten-deep on the sidewalk?" 10k said smiling all happy.

He put his hand up to high five Murphy 'Down low. Down low. Down low. There you go," Murphy said as 10k smacked his hand. Doc looked at 10k "What?" 10j asked smiling. "That is the most words I ever heard come out of your sound hole, kid" doc said. "It's the most I've seen him smile in a long time," I said smiling at 10k who smiled back. I looked over at Murphy and leaned over and kissed his cheek. He looked at me surprised "what was that for," he said. "Thank you," I told him. "Ew," I heard 10k say. "Shit up," I told him and we laughed.

"These used to be my favorite food. Where the hell did you find goldfish?" Cassandra said. "I'm a goldfish magnet. I didn't know they were your favorite though," Murphy said and she throw one at him. We all laughed and were having a good time. It's been a while since we could just sit and talk and enjoy each other as company. "I like a juicy rib eye with a loaded baked potato. Can your psycho food radar find that?" Doc said. "Yeah Doc, you're one greedy bastard. You know that?" Murphy said. Warren cleared her throat "To Murphy. You may be the mission. But today you became our friend. Thank you," she said. "Here, here," Doc said. "Cheers," cassandra thtow in. "Yes, rhank you Murphy," i told him. "Okay, okay, okay. I only did it to stop Doc's constant whining," he said. "That is totally fair," doc said.

"Is this beef jerky?" Doc asked. "You're not taking the whole bag, are you?" Cassandra asked. I noticed Murphy looking up and his smile faded. "You okay?" I whispered to him and he looked at me. "So ummm, can we go now? I need to go. So I need you to go. I need to go." He said and stood up walking to the door but stopped. Eventually we all got up and packed up and took whatever was useful and we left. "You okay Murphy?" I asked stopping him. "Yeah, come on We gotta go," he said and we walked away from the morgue.   
  
  
  



	7. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

Walking and more walking, that's what we've been doing since we left that mortuary in Nebraska and our car broke down. "Is this entire state uphill? Where are we anyway?" Murphy said. "Somewhere in South Dakota," I said. "According to this map we're in the Black Hills of South Dakota," Warren said. "I miss the truck," Cassandra said. "At least we're out of the damn horde," Warren said. "My feet hurt," I commented. "Everyone's feet hurt princess," Murphy grumbled. "Shut it, zombie boy," I spit back. "There's nothing to kill out here," 10k said. "That's fine by me, " I mumbled. "We need to find a place to make camp soon my dogs are getting tired," Doc says. "Well, there's supposed to be a little town nearby called Edgemont. I'll take a compass reading at this next ridge up here," Warren said. "Can't we just take a break?" Doc asked. "A quick one," Warren tells us.

  
We stopped and stood around while Warren looked at the map. "Oh my God. Look," Cassandra says pointing to something. I turned to see Mount Rushmore vandalized. "Now who in the hell did that?" Warren asked. "Some daredevil with a sick sense of humor," Doc replied. "Is that Mount Rushmore?" 10k asked. "Yup," I said. "This is why we can't have nice things," Murphy says rubbing his head. "Probably the same jackass that tagged the Liberty Bell," Doc said. "I think it's awesome," 10k comments. "Really dude?" I say looking at him. "If I ever catch who did that, they're gonna get a whoopin'. Come on. Let's find that town. It's gonna get dark soon," Warren told us. 

I groaned "I thought we were taking a break," I shunned. "Break time's over," she said. "We've been walking for hours. Admit it, Columbus, you're lost," Murphy says. "Give it a rest, Murphy. Warren knows where she's going," Doc yelled at him the turned to Warren "You know where you're going, Warren?" He asked. "Well, we should've hit the town by now. And for the record, Columbus was lost when he discovered America," She says. "Yeah, and look how that turned out," Murphy said. "Check this out," 10k says nodding his head. "That's not a town," me and Murphy said. "Well now being Doctor Brightside for the moment, maybe there's something useful inside," Doc said. "Yeah. Let's check it out," Warren says. 

We walked through the opened gate and in between a couple of buildings. "Oh, just like home," Murphy said. "You know what, this actually might be a safe place for us to get some rest and load up on some supplies," Warren tells us. "I could use an hour's sleep," Cassandra says. "Hey. Doc, get the door," "Why do they still lock doors?" I say. "Luckily I have a skeleton key," Doc says holding up the crowbar. "Well being Doctor Darkside, we are not gonna find much food or ammo in here," he says when we walk in. "Yeah. If we wanted industrial pipes, this would be the place to be," "I don't like this," Cassandra says as we look around "Oh, look." Murphy says grabbing a gallon of water. "Hey, hey, hold on. You can't just drink that," Doc says. "What do you think this is the local Piggly Wiggly?" I ask Murphy. "That could be some kind of you know industrial type water that'll rot your insides," Doc tells him. "Spare me the details," Murphy says taking a drink and shrugging his shoulders.

"Shhh, over there," Cassandra whispers and we look over to see a green glowing Z walking out from around the corner. "What the?" I say."Take cover. Come on," Warren says and we all hid behind a wall. "Everybody sit quietly." She says. We hear a fart and we all look towards Murphy giving him a what the fuck look "Sorry. It got away from me," he says. "Yeah that's what you get for drinking sketchy water," I tell him. "If I die because you farted, I am taking you with me," Doc said Andi had to bit my lip to stop from laughing. "Shhh," Warren shushed us. The Z came around the corner and Doc hit it in the head. "What in the livin' hell? It's glowin'," I said. "It's like a zombie ghost," Cassandra said. "Why is he glowing?" 10k asked. "He's got friends," Warren said as more Zs came out. 

"Don't touch them!" Someone said and began shooting the Zs. 10k pinned one against the wall "Back away from the Zs it's not safe," a woman tells us at shoots it. "Why the fuck not? What's wrong with them?" I asked. Warren went to touch one with her machete "No! Don't touch them!" Another person said. "Are they contagious?" Doc asked. "Radioactive," Radioactive? How is that possible?" I said. "I'll show you," the guy said and we followed him. "There you go," he said pointing to a nuclear plant. "This is gonna be one of them days, ain't it?" Doc asked. "Yep," Warren says. 

We followed the man and woman into the town and he asked us what we were doing out here. "We were lost," Murphy said. "We were not lost. Our vehicle ran out of gas a few miles from here," Warren said. "We took a shortcut through the woods so we could avoid the Zs," I said. "You're not lost anymore. Welcome to Edgemont, South Dakota. Population three, not counting you. Name's Wilbur Grady. This is my daughter, Amelia. Nice to meet you," the gut says. "Nice meeting you. I'm Roberta Warren. This is Murphy. And that's Cassandra. And this is 10K and Nik in the back," Warren says. The gut starts to cough "Is he okay?" I asked. "No. Radiation poisoning," Amelia says. "I'm fine. Let's get you folks checked out and get you some food. Our place is just around here down the road a little way," Wilbur says. 

We walked to a large shed that an airplane in it. Amelia handed all of us pills after Wilbur scanned us with a tester for radiation. "What are these?" Doc asked. "Iodine," she told him. "Oh," he said disappointingly. "It'll keep the radiation from accumulating in your thyroid," she said. "Yeah, right," the doc said. "Looks like you're still within safe levels. But you're lucky we came along when we did. Most of the Zs around here are highly radioactive," Wilbur said. "As if being brain-eating zombies wasn't bad enough," Doc said. "Okay. Question. Shouldn't we be in one of these suits too?" Murphy said. I pointed at him "Yeah anyway," I said. 

"Radiation levels aren't too bad out here. But you'll probably get cancer in twenty years," Wilbur says. "Oh. Great," I mumbled. "Somehow that's way down on my list of worries," Warren said."Yeah, but our more immediate problem is the reactor core melting down. We don't fix it soon, then everything within a 300-mile radius will be glowing. Not just the Zs," Wilbur told his. "Okay, well it's been nice meeting you. We have places to be, places at least 300 miles from here," Murphy says picking his pink spiky backpack up. "Yup I'm with ya on that. Let's go," I said standing with Murphy. "Good luck with that. Every vehicle in town is gone or can't be driven," Wilbur says. 

"Then I guess we better start walking," Murphy says raising his voice. "Again let's go," I said. "You won't make it. We have less than 48 hours before the core starts to meltdown," Wilbur says. "Why are you still here?" Cassandra asked him. "Cuz, he's stupid. let's go," I say. "Because there's still a chance to shut this thing down and save a big chunk of God's country from being irradiated for the next 10,000 years. Besides, I'm already a goner," he says. "Well, what about your daughter? Did she sign up for this suicide mission too?" I ask. "I am sticking around to help my dad," Amelia said. "I told her I didn't need her help, but she wouldn't listen," Wilbur said. "I'm a pilot. I'll fly us out of the hot zone," Amelia told us. "Well perfect. We'll just hitch a ride," Murphy says. "Yeah," Doc says. 

Amelia walks over to the plane and uncovers it. "As you can see there's only room for one passenger. And I have enough bullets for all of you, so don't go getting any ideas," Wilbur says. "Mister Grady, Wilbur. I know it doesn't look like it, but this man... this man is the only known survivor of a zombie bite," Warren told him. He started laughing "Thought there was something wrong with him," he says. Warren looks at him "His blood carries antibodies for the zombie virus. He's our last best hope for humanity," she said. "Yeah right, and I'm the Easter bunny," Wilbur says laughing more. "Show him," I told Murphy and he unbuttoned his shirt.  
  
"Oh my God," they said. "Now look, man. This dude here's the real deal. And a lot of people got killed getting him this far. So tell us what we need to do to shut down that reactor so we can be on our way," Doc says. "Unless of course, you have eggs to lay Mister Bunny," Murphy says. 

There was an alarm sounding when you went to the Nuclear Plant. "Okay, here's the plan. I need to get to the control room to see if I can figure out why the fuel rods aren't dropping down to the cooling pool to stop the reaction. I haven't been able to get in their cuz of this gauntlet of zombies. That's where I need your help," Wilbur told us. "Killing zombies, that's what we do," Warren said. "Radiation levels are only slightly elevated outside the containment building. So you should be safe for at least two minutes. Long enough to get me to the door before you have to retreat back here. Use whatever you have to keep the Zs from getting too close. They're very contaminated. One hug and you'll be dead in a few hours," Wilbur tells us. "Don't hug the zombies?" I said. "Got it," Doc said stabbing a Z. "You three stay here. Nik protects Murphy. 10K, you cover us from up there. If we don't get back, you get him to California somehow," "You ready? Let's do this," Warren orders. "10K!" I yelled and he shot a Z. "Remember two minutes! No more! Go!" Warren yelled and her, Wilbur, Doc and Cassandra run inside. 

I looked around making sure to keep an eye out for any Zs. 10k shooting the Zs inside the gate. After a few minutes Doc, Warren, and Cassandra came running out. "They're back," 10k said. Murphy un-chained the gate and opened it. "I'm almost to the control room," we heard Wilbur on the radio. "Great. Keep going, dad," Amelia told him. "What do we do now?" I ask. "We wait."

"Hey, here he comes," Warren says as we see Wilbur come out. "Dad. Dad, dad, dad, dad. Dad, are you okay? Look at me, dad," Amelia says as Wilbur falls to the ground. "I didn't make it," he says. "Dad, dad, no, no. No, hang on, hang on, hang on. Dad. No! No! No! Daddy. No. Wake up. Please. No!" Amelia cries. We hear growling from Wilbur and he grabs Amelia. Doc went over and pulled her away "No! No! No, no, please, no, not you dad! No! No! No! No. Not you," she cries as Warren gives him mercy. "I'm sorry. Let's bury him." Warren says. 

After burying Wilbur we walked a good distance away from the plant. "Well I'd like to know what we're supposed to do about it," Doc says bringing me out if my thoughts. "Can't run. We're still within the blast zone," I said. "We go in," "And do what? Grady was the one who knew how to shut that thing off. I'm a doctor, dammit, not a nuclear physicist. He was so close," Doc said. "Your dad gave it a good try. Sometimes that's the best we can do," Warren tells her. "It wasn't dying that he was afraid of. He really didn't want to become a Z, even for a few seconds.," Amelia spoke. "Amelia, we need to know... Can you shut this thing down by yourself if we protect you?" "I know airplanes, not nukes," Amelia said. "Awesome," "I mean there's one guy," "Here, here in Edgemont?" I asked. "Yeah, Homer Stubbins. He was the chief engineer at the plant for 20 years. He was dad's boss. He's been holed up in the woods since the apocalypse. He's armed and dangerous. He became a recluse after the death of his son" Amelia told us. "How do we find Homer?" Warren asked. "He won't talk to you," Amelia says. "We have to try," Warren said.

She took us to where Homer was walking up just a few yards away. "We have to stop here," Amelia said. "We're still fifty yards away," Murphy said. "My dad said the place was booby-trapped. I told you, Homer's crazy," Amelia said. "Have we completely dismissed the idea of a phone call? Just sayin'," Cassandra said. I walked up to 10k "Hey. This is your kinda set-up. How do we get in?" I asked him. "Without us getting killed. I do like to keep that in mind," Murphy said. "Uh, well one thing. Homer's set-up is aimed at stopping Zs, not a team. So if we keep a sharp eye out for landmines, tripwires... We'll be fine," 10k said. "Okay. The four of you guys, stay here. Give us a 40-second head start. We'll flank him and come up from behind," Warren said. I watched as Warren, Amelia and 10k walked in. "Well this has been a fun-filled day," I said. "What's the matter princess don't want to become a glowing zombie?" Murphy said. I looked at him and smacked him. "I prefer not to die a slow painful death," I said. 

After awhile Me, Doc, Cassandra and Murphy start to head in. "Okay. Watch the mines," Doc said. "Watching them," Cassandra said. Looking down I pointed to a mine. Eventually, we made it to the house. Doc went to go around the corner but he was kicked in the chest and knocked down. "Don't move! You have three seconds to tell me what you're doing here. One. Two," a man said pointing a gun at us. "Don't do that, sir," I heard 10k say coming up behind him and pointing his knife at Homer's throat. "Go ahead. Do me a solid. Just don't leave me a Z," he told 10k. "I'd never do that, Mr. Stubbins. We just need your help," 10k told him and looked at me real quick and I nodded my head. "Hello to you too," Doc said. 

We were lead into the house as we stood around a table. The guy had everything he needed in this h use. "Grady was a good man. If anyone could SCRAM that reactor it was him," Homer said clapping a hand on Amelia's shoulder. "SCRAM?" 10k asked. "Safety Control Rod Axe Man. Goes back to the first reactors. The only safety system they had was literally a man with an ax who's whole job in the event of a meltdown was to cut the rope holding fuel rods over the cooling pool," Homer told us. "That's what dad was trying to do," Amelia said. "How much time do you have?" Homer asked. "How much time do we have? You're in the soup with us, Homer," I said gesturing around. 

He looked at him "You've confused me with someone who gives a damn," he said. I through my hands in the air and paced around. "According to Grady, less than 40 hours. And we do give a damn. Now are you gonna help us or are you gonna sit here and let us all die?" Warren said. "Well, there's one thing we might try. I'm gonna have to show you. We're gonna need weapons, equipment. Come on. Load up. It's not as if I'm gonna be needing this stuff," Homer said grabbing a bag with weapons in it. 

Murphy walked over uncovering a bunch of alcohol. "Hello, nurse. Hey Nik Vitamin V," he said opening a bottle and taking a sip. I walked over to him and tapped him on The arm with The backbone my hand. "Give me. Give me. Give me," I said like a child wanting candy. He handed it to me smirking and I took a vug gulp of him. "Mmm," I moaned out. "Careful princess keep making noises like that and I might have to take you to a room," Murphy whispered in my ear. I chocked a little and looked at him "in your dreams," I said. "The elixir of the Zombie Apocalypse," Murphy said taking another sip. 

I walked over to 10k and stood beside him as he looked at something. "You know you're looking at the original building plans for this reactor. I was part of the design team," Homer said walking over to us. "You're pretty handy with that knife for a kid. My son... he had one like it but with a longer blade," "Yeah, older model. Got to be good to make it work," 10k said. "Oh, Max was good," Homer said. "Okay, let's go, let's do it," I heard Warren say. "We heard about your son. I'm sorry," 10k said. "There's nothing worse than outliving your own child. Nothing," Homer said walking away. I looked up at 10k and nodded my head "come on," I said and we followed after. 


	8. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

We went outside and hopped in a golf cart Warren sitting with Homer and Murphy on the back the rest of us walked. Once we got close to the Nuclear plant we all walked the rest of the way. Warren had a satellite phone trying to get a hold of CZ. "Northern Light comes in," she said but there was nothing. "I don't know what you want with that old price of junk. Nobody to call," Homer said. "We got somebody that might puck up," Warren told him. "Northern Light comes in," she tried again but nothing. 

Homer stopped in his tracks looking at Z "Homer what's wrong?" Warren asked. "Just knew her is all. Her son was one of Max's buddies," he told her. "Did you ever go back to the house you grew up in only to see it's falling apart and in a bad neighborhood? That's what this feels like. Times ten," he said looking up at the plant. "Well where I grew up, the Zombie Apocalypse only improved things," Doc said. Homer looked at 10k and nodded so he walked over and gave her mercy. "right, back to business. From here on the area's hot, right? You got two clean rad suits in there. One for me and I need somebody to back me up," Homer said looking at 10k. 10k walked over to him "No. Hell no. No, you are not going. "I'll go," Warren said. "Well, you can't go. Who's gonna get him to California if something goes wrong?" Doc said. "Don't look at me," he said. "Okay. All right. Just remember you have ammo now. But not an infinite supply," Warren said. "What? Um, I just said no!" I said. "Nik I'll be fine I promise," 10k told him and I sighed "fine," I said. "Let's do this," He said. 

While 10k and Homer suited up I went over to 10k. "Be careful, please. Don't die I can't lose you," I told him. "I won't. I love you," he said. "I love you too little brother," I told him and gave him a hug. He and Homer walked inside while the rest of us stayed outside. After awhile Homer and 10k came back out. "Did you get it?" I asked and 10k shook his head.   
Murphy stood looking at the plant rubbing his head he turned to us "so what now? Plan B or is it C? Give me a D, E, F," he said. "Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Not helpful," Warren said. Murphy raised his eyebrow at her. 

Okay, so Robbie failed. But I can still do a manual SCRAM," Homer said. "How? That place is filled with Zs," I said. "We'll go in heavier. Take us along this time," Doc said. "We probably only got one more shot at a SCRAM. But we'll need heavier suits to reach the control room," Homer said. "Where do we find them?" 10k asked. "In the lab, not far from where we lost Robbie. Four can go in, two in these suits. Me and the kid in the heavies," Homer said. "Okay. But what happens if plan C doesn't work and we wind up with our very own Fukushima Chernobyl whatever?" Murphy said. "You mean what happens to you?" Cassandra said told him. "Hey. I didn't ask for the job of saving the human race," Murphy says.

"Amelia. Would you be willing to fly him out of the radiation zone?" Warren asked. "To be honest, I don't have enough fuel. I lied to my dad or else he never would have let me stay behind," she said. "Oh great," I said. "If I had a few gallons, I might be able to get myself and one other person outside the blast zone, if we are lucky," Amelia said. "Okay, a buddy and I once converted a Dodge Dart to run on alcohol. A light plane engine isn't that different. You had a serious supply of vodka," Warren said. "You're welcome to it," Homer told her. "Okay. Doc and Cassandra, go with 10K and Homer, You cover them. Murphy, Nik, and Amelia come with me," Warren said. Given we have no other choices, I shall embrace the inevitable," Doc said. "If this works, we'll meet back here to celebrate," Warren said. 

  
Me, Murphy, Warren and Amelia got on the golf cart with Warren and Amelia up front and me and Murphy in the back. We pulled back in the shed where the plane was after getting the alcohol we needed from Home's place. "Warren, this is Doc. Please be advised we have entered the tunnel to the reactor core. Over and out," we heard Doc say through the radio. "Let's see what's going on with this baby," Warren said as we got off the golf cart. "So Amelia, my dear. Where exactly might we be headed in this fine piece of aeronautical hardware?" Murphy asked. "Considering it's only my life and the human race at stake." He said. "Sheridan, Wyoming. It's to the northwest, and the fallout will be to the southeast. Far enough away, and my dad and I heard there's some real humans," She said.

Murphy walked back over to the calf cart standing beside where I was leaning against it. "I just hope it works," he says. "Piece of cake. All I need is some tools," Warren says. "Murphy, could you quit drinking your fuel and fill up the damn tank?" I told him. "I don't know where the tank is," he said. "Well, it's not in your mouth," I say. "Let me get a screwdriver," Amelia said. Warren fixes up the airplane and she and Amelia take it out on the runway. After filling up the tank we put the extra vodka in the back just in case. 

"Okay, so that was 22 gallons. Sheridan is 250 miles as the crow flies. Here's a couple more. Is that gonna be far enough to clear the blast zone?" Warren said. "It'll have to be," Amelia tells her. "Well, this is vodka, not avgas. So the mileage may vary," Warren says and walks over to Murphy. "Listen, I, uhhh..." she starts. "Oh shit, you're not gonna try and say goodbye, are you?" He says. "I was going to say be grateful for all the sacrifices everyone has made," she said and started walking away. "Hey!" Murphy yelled and she stopped he nodded his headed "Back at you," she said. I walked over to him next "good luck Murphy I hope you get there safe," I said. "Not you too princess," he said. "Just don't be a dick alright," I told him and made a split decision and hugged him. I could feel him tense a little from surprise but he hugged me back and I let go walking over to Warren. 

I and Warren stood there and watched as they took off. "Let's get back to the others she said," and we got on the half cart and headed back to the plant. "Doc, this is Warren, back at the plant, coming in the same way. Doc, Warren," Warren says into the radio. "Hello, Roberta. Welcome back. Please be advised we're now entering the reactor core on the other side of the facility," Doc said."Is there something we can do?" Warren asked. "Oh, just the usual prayer. What's the status of that precious cargo? Has the mouthy package taken off?" Doc asked. "Yeah, he's in the air," she told him. "Then we'll fix our little problem," Doc said. 

Warren walked around checking the cars "Which one of you fine vehicles is our ride out of here?" She said. She got on the phone and called CZ. "This is Delta-X-Ray, copy. I need a little information on glowing zombies." She said and waited. "Incoming," I said as I saw Zs coming towards us. I raised my bat and got ready. "Are you kidding?" I heard Warren say. "I just need an answer. Are they hot or not?" She asked. I went to swing up she stopped me "don't let them splatter you," she yelled. "Shit," I said dropping my bat and pulling my gun out. I shot one Z and Warren shot another. Warren picks up the phone "Yeah. I got no other place to be," she says. 

I shot at mire Zs as they came out from around the building. "This shit is fucking crazy," I said. We met with the others. I got off the golf cart nothing 10k was upset. "Hey. Het Tommy, what's wrong?" I asked. He grabbed an old of me and hugged me holding on to me tight. "I couldn't save him. It was like dad all over again," he cried. "Okay. Shhh. It's alright I'm here," I told him rubbing his back. "  
  
"You remind me of my ex-wife, back from Costco," Doc said to Warren. "Who'd marry you?" She asked. "Several women, I'll have you know. None with very good taste or staying power," he told her. "So it all worked. We're safe," Warren asked. "From the meltdown. Nothing else," Cassandra told her. I continued to hug 10k as he just stared into space. "Is this a battery charger?" Doc asked. "Yeah. I couldn't find a truck that I could fix, so that'll keep us going," Warren said. "All right, so we can get back on the trail. But where to? Given the fact that we've lost patient zero," Doc said. "Great news! The vodka made perfect fuel for ten minutes!," I heard Murphy and turned around. "Murphy?" I said. "What happened?" Warren asked. 'Crash landing about a hundred miles out of town," he said. "Wow, you covered a lot of ground. Did you hitchhike?" Doc asked. "Ten miles, whatever. It felt like a hundred miles when you're walking," Murphy said.

"So what happened to Amelia?" Warren asked. Murphy sat down on the cart and gestured to the hill he walked up. There was Amelia as a Z. "Oh no," Cassandra said. "You didn't give her mercy?" Doc said. "It didn't feel right, somehow," Murphy said. "So you just let her follow you? Didn't I say bot to be a dick?" I said. "That... felt... right, somehow," he said. "Okay, what do you want us to do?" Warren said and I started walking towards her. "No, no! No, no, no, no, no! No! No!" Murphy yelled putting his hands on my waist to stop me. "She is not hurting us! I don't know. Maybe it's time for a different kind of mercy," he said. I looked at him then at Amelia "Okay," I whispered. "Climb aboard," Warren said and we all got on the cart. Doc and Cassandra in the back seats, Murphy and Warren in the front and me and 10k in the very back. 

  
  



	9. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

We ended up in some building CZ told us to go to. We heard a noise like someone was coming up the stairs. "Hold it right there," Warren said. I dropped my bat down seeing it was Addy and Mack. "Oh, it's the damn wonder twins," Murphy said. "Guys," Warren said. "What? The wonder... " doc started. "Hey!" Addy said. We all hugged and said hi. "Oh my! Never, I mean never, ever, in a million years, truly did I think I'd see you guys again," doc said. "Citizen Z send you guys?" Mack asked. "Yeah. He told us there were food and somebody named Chester who could help us out," Cassandra said. "Yeah, he told us that too. We're starting to have our doubts," Mack said. "Okay, well he should be, you know what, right down there. Let's hit it," Warren said. "Hey, hey. What happened to her?" Mack asked looking at Cassandra's leg. "She got caught on a piece of barbed wire," the doc said. "Now it's all infected," I told him as we walked after the others. 

We walked to a door and Warren knocked. Opened it she "Hello!" But there was no answer. We saw a man sitting in a chair "Well I guess we found Chester. Hello, Chester," Addy said spinning him around. She started hitting him the bat blood going everywhere. We all stood there staring at her. Once she was done she looked at us "Somebody got up on the wrong side of the apocalypse," Murphy said. "Yeah, I'd say," I said. Warren walked around us "What happened to you guys out there?" Warren asked Mack. "She's working out some stuff. You know how things can catch up with you," he said. 

"Chester? You got them yet? You got my team? Hello? Anyone?" We heard from the room behind us. Following Warren, as she walked over pushing the door open we walked into a room and looked around. "Warren? Addy, it's..." We heard. "Hey, hey, hey! Up here! It's your old pal, Citizen Z. Oh, it's everyone. Hi, everyone. Hi! Addy, looking gorgeous as always," we heard and looked up to a camera and screen with CZ on it waving. "Oh, hey uh, you must be Mack. Huh, kinda thought you'd be taller," he said to Mack. "I thought you'd be old enough to shave," Mack got back. "Hmmm. Hey, Murphy. Squeeze in so I can see you," CZ said. 

Doc moved out of the way while I and 10k moved over a little. A shocked look came on to CZ's face "Oh, hey. Yeah, lookin' good, sir. So guess what? I've got good news. California's back. They're alive and online, well most of them. But they're getting ready for you, and the dream is alive. The mission is a go, thanks to yours truly," he said. "That's good news, right?" He asked. 'Good news would be a package of Oreos and a couple of gallons of milk," 10k said and I nudged him chuckling and shaking my head. "Oh, oh yeah, right. Sorry. Down the same hall, next door on your left. It should be everything that you need. I can't tell you how good it is to see you all again," CZ said. 

"Yeah. Good to see us too, kid," Doc said and we all started walking to the door. "Oh, hey, what was this place anyway?" Mack asked. "It used to be a CIA black site," CZ told him. "Oh. Oh, like waterboarding, Zero Dark Thirty, black site?" Mack asked. "Yeah, I kinda thought it would be obvious from what Chester told me. So where is the old crackpot anyway?" CZ asked. Mack shocks his head. "Oh man. Bummer," CZ said and we all left going to where CZ told us everything was. We gathered whatever we could and hoped in a black SUV. It was cramped, to say the least, but we made it work. Murphy sat upfront with Warren earring some nasty ass something that smelled horrible. He Burps "nasty ass," I say from the back where I was with 10k and Mack. 10k was standing up with his half part out of the sunroof. "Oh... Whoa, Warren. Slow up here, will ya?" Doc said. Looking over we saw a Z that was cut in half. "It's just a kid," Warren said. 'That is not a kid. It's zombie roadkill," Murphy says. 

"Ten o'clock," 10k says. "Another kid," I said. "Not anymore," Murphy said. "Stop. Warren, stop. It's just a boy. Stop," Addy says. Warren stops and Addy jumps out ealkingviver to the boy. She went to hit him but stopped frozen. Mack stood up and plopped out of the sunroof "Addy!" He says and she hits the Z kid in the head and he drops. Warren gets out and goes over to her. "Hey," she says and puts her hand on Addy's shoulder. She jumps "What?! Fine!" Addy says. "Heads up, we got a live one," Warren says. "Whoa. Another sad kid in a weird flowered shirt," Doc said. "I got this one," Warren says getting out. "Hey, whoa. You okay?" She asked. "A little thirsty is all," he said. "Of course. Hold on. Water," Warren said coming over grabbing water. "Thanks. Here you go, champ," she says handing him the water. "Thanks, ma'am," he says after taking a sip. "You can call me Roberta. What's your name?" She says. 

"I'm Sam. Sam," he tells ger. "Does your mom know you're out here all by yourself?" She asks. "I'm going to Salt Lake City to see my dad," he replies. "That's not a good idea," she said. "Yes, it is. I'm old enough now. I finally get to meet my dad," the kids said. "It's too far. It's not safe," she told him. "It's not too far. Brennan and Dax are already there," he said. "Sam. Salt Lake City's been overrun by zombies," she says. "Yeah, right," he said and walked passed him. "Uh, wait, wait, Sam. You're right. You are old enough to go see your dad. But here's the thing. We've run out of food. Can you help us?" She tells him. "My friend Helen could help you get some food," he told ger. "Cool. Will you show us where they live? Tell you what. You take us there, we will drive you to Salt Lake City. Okay." She said. 

"Murphy, move," Cassandra said as the kid got in. "Hey there," Addy said. "Hey man, I'm Mack," Mack introduced himself._ "Just up there," the kid told us. "Anybody home?" I said. "Doesn't look like it. Mack, you want to check it out?" Warren asked. "Yeah," he said and got out. "Get back in the truck! You're not welcome here!" Someone yelled. "Hold on. Hold on. It's okay. We're friendly. We just..." Mack said but the shot at him. "Stop! Stop! It's fine! Just listen to me for a second! We have..." Mack said but the shot again. "I thought you said they were friendly, Sam," Mack said. Warren got out "Stop! Don't shoot! Please! We have your boy! We have Sam!" She said. "Hold your fire! Open the gate," a woman said.

A woman walked out and the boy walked up to her "Ms. Helen, it's okay. They just need food. They're nice," he said. "It's good to see you, Sam. Why don't you go inside and find your mother? I'm sure she's anxious to see you," she told him and he walked inside. "Thank you for bringing him back. Sometimes our kids get cabin fever and decide to go exploring," she told us. Doc took Cassandra and walked over to the lady and Warren. "What's wrong with you?" The lady asked. "It's infected," Cassandra said. "Oh, that could be dangerous," she said. "Yeah, it could," doc replied. "We can help you. You've arrived at the Sisters of Mercy," the woman said. "Anytime now!" Murphy said leaning out of the door. "You don't have to stay!" She told him. "Yes, he does. We're a team," Warren said. "You are?" Helen asked. "Yes," Warren says. "Well, team or not, if you want to stay here, you'll have to split up. Women and children only here," Helen said. 

  
"You can go inside with your friend. But your men will have to stay outside the wall. We'll give you 24 hours. You can rest, get some food, and then you'll leave us," she said. "That's very fair of you. And you are?" Warren said. "Helen. And you?" Helen asked. "Lieutenant Roberta Warren. Missouri National Guard," she told her. "Addy," Mack said. "Don't worry I got her," Warren told him. I got out of the car and walked over to stand by Mack. "Nik you coming?" Warren asked. "I think I'll stay here with the guys keep them out of trouble," I told her and she nodded his head and walked inside. "You sure you wouldn't want to come inside," Helen asked. I squinted my eyes at her "Nah. I'm good," I said. "Suit yourself," she said and she walked inside and they shit the gate. 

"Man this blows," Doc said. "No. There's something weird about this place," I said and walked over to the driver's side getting in. "Get the fuck in the car Murphy," I said. "Who made you queen bitch," he said. "Fun fact! I've always been queen bitch! Now get in the damn car!" I yelled. Mack and Doc got in the back seat and Murphy sat down shutting the door. "Well you got one thing right you're a bitch," he mumbled. "Shut the fuck up," I said and backed up. I parked up at the top of the lane and got out. Mack, Doc, 10k, and Murphy getting out too. We started to set up camp. 

I was standing with Doc and Mack when Murphy came up to us. "All these women give me the creeps. That blonde one keeps looking at me," he said. "Oh man, don't get down on yourself like that. You are a perfect hunk of man meat, and don't you ever forget it," Doc said and I chuckled. "Ha, ha. Don't quit your day job," Murphy said and walked away. "Aww come in Murphy don't be so dickish!" I yelled and he flipped me off. 10k came over "Are there really all women in there?" He asked looking at us with a smile. "Yeah. Enjoy your imagination, kid. That's probably all you're gonna get," Doc said. "Umm.... no. No, don't do that. Doc really!" I said. And they all just smirked and 10k walked away. "You know what I don't understand, Doc? What the hell happened to all their men?" Mack said. "Probably killed them and ate them,'" I mumbled. "Well maybe we can ask her," Doc said and I looked to see a blonde woman walking over to us. 

"Angels from heaven. Is that pie?" Doc said. "Blueberry. Ummm, I, I, I made it by myself," she said. I rolled my eyes. "Do you guys know where the... the other one is? The one with the... with the hair and those eyes? He..." She started. "Murphy, you're looking for Murphy?" I said. "10K, Hold my calls, wake me up after the apocalypse," we heard Murphy say. She looked over at him and smiled. I was not liking this. "I'm gonna go give him a piece of this," she said handing doc one of the pies. She started walking towards where 10k was stand8ng and he smiled but it dropped when she walked passed him. "What?" Murphy said. "Pie?" She asked. "Beat it, kid. Beat it!" Murphy said and she went into the tent with Murphy. 

" Ew really?" I said hearing the giggling and grunting. Mack, 10k and Doc dug into the pie. "Really guys?" I said. "What?" 10k said with his mouth full. "It's a good pie. You want some?" Doc asked. "No. No, I'm good. I hate pie," I said. "Man pie doesn't sound good to me," I told them. 10ks face fell "Man pie?" He said. "I'm going for a walk," Doc said and left. After a while, he came back "We got to burn this joint, boys. Time to the motor," he said. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Doc. Hold on, man. What Is it? What'd you see?" Mack asked. "Zombie... bear." He said. I raised my eyebrow "zombie bear?" I said and he nodded. We heard someone coming down the lane and looked to see a red jeep. "I think someone's coming," 10k said. The jeep went by us and We saw Warren and Addy in it. "They wouldn't just leave us, would they?" Doc said. "No, Addy doesn't go anywhere without me," Mack said. "Sorry, pal. She just did," Doc told him. 

We started packing things up when the jeep came back down the lane and Warren got out. "We got to get out of here," she said. "Hey, I know. I saw the bear," Doc said. "That's not the problem," she said. "If a zombie bear isn't the problem, what is?" I asked. Warren looked at Mack. "I need to see her," he said. "She's in a weird place. I've been there. It's not gonna be easy to get her back," she told him. "Well it's fine, but I'm not leaving here without her," Mack told her. "You guys just get ready. I'll do my best to get her out," she said. "But you may have a choice to make," she told Mack before walking away. 

After awhile the gate opened "Addy?" 10k said. "Hey," she said. "Hey," Mack said running up to her. "Hey, can we go talk somewhere real quick?" She asked. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course," he said and they walked off. "I don't think this is going to be good," I said. "What do you mean?" 10k asked. "I have a feeling she's staying," I told him. We saw Addy run by and back into the gate then Mack came running after her telling her name and started banging on the gate. 

We started packing everything up in the truck. Doc came over "Where's Murphy? We need the tent," he asked. "Uh, he's still in it with that girl," 10k said. "She's still in there?" He asked. 10k nodded and doc walked over and I followed. "Party's over, everyone. Time to go," Doc yelled as I unzipped the tent. "Where'd you get a cigarette?" I said. "Whatever daddy needs, daddy gets," she said giggling and lucking pie off her fingers the leaned over him and kissed him "Daddy?" I said and raised my eyebrow at Murphy and the girl. "Yeah, well time to go now, sweetheart. Come on. Up and at 'em," Doc said and pulled her up off of Murphy. She left and Murphy got up "Thanks, man. Though she'd never leave," Murphy said. I scuffed "Yeah right. Looked like you were enjoying yourself," I said. 

Okay, so you might think I'm jealous right? Well I am but in my defense, I could have beat her like I used to do to girls in the past but I didn't. I kept my cool and didn't lay a finger on her sluty ass. Anyway back to my story. Where did I leave off? Oh right, pack8ngvshit up before I beat the hell out of Murphy. 

We got in and backed up to the gate and waited. The gate opened and Warren and Cassandra were pushed out. Mack stood there and begged Addy to come with us but she walked away from him. They shot him when he went to go after her. Doc got out and Warren walked over to him. "You shot him?" She growled. "It's a warning. Get him out of here now. Before it gets worse," Helen said. "Get his gun," Warren said and Cassandra picked it up. "Addy!" Mack said. 10k jumped out of the sunroof and opened the hatch. "What about Addy?" Doc asked. "Come on. She's not coming! Let's go, Doc! Now!" Warren said.

10k helped Cassandra in the back and he got in shutting the hatch. Doc got back in the driver's seat. Warren and Mack were in the back seat with me and Doc took off. "Stop the truck," Mack said. "No," Warren replied. "Stop the truck!" Mack yelled. "Keep driving!" Warren told Doc. Mack opened the door and jumped out. Doc stopped the truck and Warren got out. "Mack, Mack, Mack," Warren said. "I can't. Okay. Okay. I can't." He said. Mack took off and Warren walked back to the car when they started shooting at her "get in!" Doc yelled. Warren got in and Doc took off.


	10. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

It's been a few days since Sister of Mercy. Eventually, we stopped and Warren could drive. Doc sat upfront with her and 10k, Cassandra, me and Murphy all squished in the back seat. We and Cassandra were small so it wasn't too bad. "Do you think we'll ever see them again?" Cassandra asked. "Mack and Addy? My heart says yes. But my mind? My mind says no," Warren said. "I was kinda hoping they'd make it with us to the promised land," Doc said. "Now what?" Warren said. "Heads up, everybody," Doc told us. "I hate roadblocks," 10k said. "Can't you just push that thing out of our way?" Murphy said as we pulled up near a big white limo. "No thanks. I'd like to hold onto this truck," Warren said.

She turned right and went through an opening in the broken fence. Looking around to see a gold course "Well this golf course has seen better days," I said. "This is so sad. I learned to play in prison. Always wondered what it'd be like to hang out with the real country club types," Murphy said. Me, Cassandra and 10k look at him. We came up to a bridge and Doc looked at Warren "Think that bridge is gonna hold this truck?" He asked. "Better test it first," she said. we all got out and walked over to the bridge. "Looks pretty solid," Warren said. We walked across it when we started hearing a voice coming from the radio Warren had.

"Hello, Delta-Xray. Citizen Z calling all cars, calling all cars," it said. "Delta-Xray back at you," Warren said. "Hello, good to hear from you again. It's been days, and I worry," CZ said. "Thanks, mom. Any news on Mack or Addy?" Warren asked. "No, nothing yet. Maybe they're just off the grid and can't make contact," CZ said. "Maybe," she said. "How's Murphy?" He asked. "She pushed the button "pain in my ass," I said and I heard him laugh. "Murphy is pissed. Where the hell is that lab you keep talking about? And have you found that witch doctor that almost killed me?" Murphy said talking the radio from Warren walking towards the car. "Doctor Merch?" He said. "The hell Murphy?!" I called after him. "I'm still working on that," CZ told him. "And you call yourself the NSA? Quit looking at porn and find that quack. We got business to settle," Murphy told him. 

We heard groaning and turned to see Zs heading turned us. "I'm outta ammo," Warren said. "Me roo," 10k says. I took my bat and hit one alongside the head. Dokken Cassandra picked up a couple of golf clubs "remember to keep your left arm straight," Doc said. They hit a few Zs and Warren told us to get to the clubhouse. We ran over and got inside shutting the door. "Murphy?" I said. "He's out there somewhere," Warren said. "Safer than us," Doc says. "We got company," Warren said. "Hard to swing in here!" Doc yelled. Cassandra picked up a jacket of golf balls "10K, your sling!" She said. "Yeah," he said and pulled it and started shooting Zs with golfballs. I hit any Z that came near with my bat. 

  
"Too many," I said. "This way!" Warren told us and we ran after her into a bathroom. 10k turned his flashlight on. Doc and Warren held the door shut "Door won't hold much longer!" Warren said. "Better in here than out there!" Doc said. Then we heard gunfire "is that gunfire?" I said. "You can come out now," A voice said. "That was not Murphy," I said. "It wasn't a Z either," Warren said. "All right, get ready," she told us. We open the door. "It's okay. It's all clear," a guy said. "Nice timing," Warren told him. "Don't get too relaxed. There's still more outside" a woman told us. "We got another guy outside too," Doc told him. They turned and looked outside "I don't believe it." The guy said. There was Murphy playing golf. I shook my head "Fucking idiot. You know he would never survive on his own if he was well who he is now," I said. 

We walked outside and Murphy came walking up the road whistling. "What?" He said to the guy staring at him. "A little risky don't you think?" The guy asked. "No. Zs love me. Who the hell are you?" Murphy said. "Brett Zimmerman. This is Henry and Janice," he said. " Roberta Warren. This is Doc, Nik, 10K, Cassandra, and the fool with the jacket golfing with the zombies, that's Murphy," Warren said. "You're just jealous cuz they like me more than you," Murphy said. "Yeah, that's it. We're so jealous Zs don't want to cuddle us," I said rolling my eyes. "I'll cuddle with you if you want princess," Murphy said winking. "Eat me," I said. "Happily," Murphy said. "Ew. No. Stay away from my sister Murphy, " 10k said standing in front of me. 

  
Murphy sat down while everyone stood around near talking. Walking over I stood in front of him. "You're an idiot you know that?" I said. "What's up with you?" He said Looking up at me. "Nothing. You just need to stop being a dick. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the rest of us," I said. The woman from earlier walked over "Thirsty?" She asked Murphy handing him a bottle of water. "I have been since Portsmouth," he said taking a drink. She knelt down and looked at him. "Prison? Massachusetts?" He said. "Christ," she said. "I'm an alum," he ropd her. "Another ex-con," she said. "Not you?" Murphy said. "I taught junior high English before everything went to hell. But Henry was in San Carlos, drug smuggling I think," she told him. "Hmmm, my kinda guy. Right Princes?" He said looking at me. I pinched the bridge of my nose and walked inside. 

  
After the food was done we all sat around a table. "Yeah, and let's not be stingy with that. There you go," Murphy said to the pouring us alcohol. "Got any ID?" The guy went to 10k. "Mmmm. Oh yeah, this is not that White Lightning crap," Murphy said. I took a drink of the liquor and hummed. "Have a taste, 10 cents," Murphy said to 10k. 10k looked at from across the table and I smiled and nodded. "Miss Warren..." The guy at the end of the table said. "Roberta," she said. "Roberta, would you like to propose a toast?" He asked. "Sure. To absent friends," said. We lifted outgas all saying "To absent friends," and taking a drink. 

"Mr. Murphy. You seem to have a special way with them," he turned to Murphy. "Brother, you don't know the half of it," Murphy said laughing. God, he was such a smug ass. "Come on, Murphy. No one wants to hear your war stories," I said. "They asked," he said. "I'd like to hear it. Those look like zombie bites," the guy said. "Eight of 'em. And I lived to tell the tale," Murphy told him. "How is that possible?" "Well I was given an experimental vaccine, and now the Zs think I'm one of them," Murphy told them. "Is there more of this vaccine?" He asked. "You're looking at it. Only known survivor. But if we can get to this lab in California, they can make more vaccine using the antibodies in my blood. And the human race survives. Ta-da," Murphy says. "Our friend tends to exaggerate," Warren said. 

"Come on. We all saw him walk through zombies," the woman said. "What can I say? I'm a natural," murphy said. "Try unnatural," 10k said. Oh! oh! Somebody had a cocktail," Murphy said. "Henry? Don't forget about our friend Doc outside," the guy told his friend. "So his lab in California, that's a long way," he asked. "We started in New York," Warren said. "New York? You came from New York?" He asked. "Wasn't easy," she said. "That is an understatement," I said. "Well, we were headed west. Maybe we can help get you the rest of the way," he said. "We could use the help," Warren told him. "Let me propose another toast," the guy said. Nodding his glass up "To California," he said. "Yeah. To California. To California," we said. 

I started not feeling right. Feeling tired all of a sudden. Warren started yawning "Oooh, wow. That last sip, I must be tired than I thought," she said. 10k went down face hitting it a plate and Murphy pointed at him laughing. "10k?" I said then Cassandra went down. Murphy's face dropped "Hey," Warren said standing up. She started to pull her machete out "What's happening?" She said and fell over. I looked at Murphy the to the guy beside him "What did you do?" I said and started to stand grabbing my bat. "He. He posion...positioned.." I tried saying put everything went black and I fell to the floor. 

I'm not sure how long we were out for but when we woke up we were handcuffed to a metal bar. Warren woke up "Oh shit," she said looking at the handcuff. "Where am I?" Doc said waking up. "Fuck! What the hell," I mumbled. "I'm awake," 10k said jolting up."Ummm. Uhhh," Cassandra said. Looking over there was a Z handcuffed to her. "Okay, everybody holds on," Warren said. "Not a great option right now," Cassandra told her. "Where's Murphy?" Doc asked. "Murphy! Murphy!" Warren and Doc yelled. "They took him I just it!" I growled. 

"Anyone see anything sharp?" Warren asked. "Well there's all these golf tees on the floor," the doc said. "Too short," Cassandra said. "Well, I got something under here. It's in my... 10K, get it," Doc told him reaching his bar pocket. "Ow," 10k said. "You got it?" Doc asked. "Ummm," 10k said. "Oh, no that's not sharp enough," Doc said. "Okay, uh. Uh, oh look. There's something on top of the bar," Warren said. 10k and Doc reached up and grabbed the object bringing it down seeing it was an umbrella. 10k and Cassandra held it and counted to three then piked the Z.   
"Okay. Now... How do we get out of these?" Warren asked. "Can we bust that rail?" I said. "Well if we can't, it ain't gonna be for lack of tryin'," Doc said. Warren leaned over and picked up a golf tee in her mouth. She sat back up and looked at Doc "If you say anything golf-related, I'll poke you with it." She said and he just leaned back. She stuck it in the keyhole of the cuffs and started jiggling it around. 

After a while she got it undone and did the same for the rest of us. We got up grabbed our things and walked back to the car. "What happened to us?" 10k asked. "I believe we got roofed Drugged with Rohypnol," Doc said. "Makes sense," I said and 10k looked at me and I shrugged. "Where's Murphy?" Warren asked. "The others are gone too," 10k said. "You don't think...Murphy wouldn't do that. Drug us to escape?" Cassandra said. We got to the car and Warren went to the driver's side "How could we let this happen? He was our responsibility," she said. "At least they left our ride," 10k said. 

Warren got in and tried to start it but it wouldn't start. "The battery's dead," Warren said. "Well assuming we find some way to get moving, what next, boss?" Doc asked as we walked over to the other cats. "Go after Murphy and get his ass to California or die tryin'," she said. "Hey, do we even know what direction he went in?" Doc asked. "Too many questions, Doc," I told him. "Too many questions," Warren said. "It's got a battery. I don't know how good," Cassandra said shutting the hood of the limo. "Look at this," Cassandra said. Looking inside there was a car phone."Yes," Warren said. "How did you know that?" Doc asked her. "Saw the antenna on the back," she said. 

We got a hold of CZ and told him we list Murphy. He checked cameras for us and found a truck and told us which way it was going. Before we could ask anything else we lots him. Going back to the car we changed the battery and got in. We drove until we came to one of those big light sign that contrition crews use. Getting out if the car we walked over to it looking around. "Here we go again any other fork in the road," Doc said. "It's hard to tell which way they went," Warren said. Warren got on the radio "Citizen Z, which is Delta-Xray. Copy. Hello?" She said. "I'd say flip a coin, but who's got coins?" Doc said. "Hey, check that out," I said. The sign had a big arrow on it and said over here! "Well maybe it's a message from our guy," 10k said. "Yeah. He's saying they went that way," Cassandra said. "Yeah. Let's roll," Warren said and we got back in the car and headed that way. 

  
We finally spot the truck and got out of the car. Ealkingviver to the truck we check it out. "Something wrong?" 10k asked Cassandra. "Always," she said. Warren opened the passenger door and an alarm started going off. Zs came out way and we easily took them out. "They know we're coming now let's go," Warren said and we started walking to try and catch up to Murphy. 

We walked the patch andc10k ran up to a coat laying on a log. "Hey, check this out," he said. You think he left it on purpose?" Doc said. "He must have," 10k said. "He definitely didn't go willingly. We better step it up," Warren said. "I knew she was gonna say that," Doc said. We walked and came to a thing of trees walking down a hill a little. "What is it?" Doc asked. "Looks like a warehouse," Warren said. "Damn those are some fast Zs," I said. Warren handed Doc A pair of binoculars. "You think that's where they're at?" Doc said. "Must be," she said. "Yeah, some kind of manufacturing plant. Mesa Pharmaceuticals. Oh, the Zs are all over this place," he said laughing. "What's so funny?" Warren askes. "See for yourself," he said handing her the binoculars back. "Oooh. Uh-uh," she said looking through them. "What is it?" Cassandra asked and Warren handed them to her. "Uh. Wow," Cassandra said. "What are you looking at?" 10k asked. She handed the binoculars to him and he looked. "Apparently the Zs got into the pharmaceuticals. Some of them are on speed, but it looks like more than a few of them got into the viagra," Doc said. I got them next to see Zs running around with boners. "I had no idea that was even possible," 10k said with shock on his face. "Kid, it's official. You have now seen it all," Doc said. 

We kept looking down the building and saw Murphy "What the hell is Murphy doing down there?" Doc asked. "The Zs must think he's one of them. That must be why Zimmerman and the others kidnapped him, so they can get to the drugs," Warren said. "Now I like drugs as much as the next guy, but there ain't enough dope in the world that's gonna make me want to be out there walkin' around with them viagra Zs," Doc said. "Let's go," Warren told us and we headed down. It was time to save Murphy's ass.

We walked into the warehouse just as the asshat who took Murphy pointed a gun at his head. "Drop it!" Warren said as we all stood around weapons drawn. "Not going to happen, Warren. You need to turn around and get out of here before I kill your big-ticket," he said. " Then how will you get out of here?" I asked. "We can drive. Don't know what you folks will do," he said. There was growling and a few Zs took the other guy down. More Zs came in and we started taking care of them. I held my bat in my left hand and pulled my gun shooting at the three Zs that cama near me. After we were done we went back to our main focus. 

"Well now that that's over, we're right back where we started," asshat said. Looking up he had Murphy up at the top of the stairs with his gun pointed at his head as he stood behind him. "Actually this is totally different," Murphy said and all of a sudden Zimmerman dripped his gun and moved away from Murphy "You're weak, Zimmerman. You're a weak little man," Murphy told him and Zimmerman put the gun under his own chin. "Should we stop them?" I asked. "Only if he points that gun at Murphy," Warren told me. "You were gonna kill me and the others. Pathetic," Murphy said. "It's the apocalypse," Zimmerman said. "The apocalypse is better off without you," Murphy told him and walked down the steps. "Murphy, what are you doing?" I asked him. "Me? Nothing princess," he said. There was a gunshot as Zimmerman shot himself. "Murphy," Warren said. "What?" He asked and through her the keys. We got in the van "Mercy granted," Warren said. "I'm not sure that was necessary,' Murphy said. Warren pulled them stopped and 10k opened the back door hopping in "Go!" He said as he closed the door and we left. 


	11. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

I went up front and sat between Warren and Murphy. "Hey, we need to find a place. We gotta fix up Cassandra's leg it's bad," I told Warren. "Alright well find a house we can stay in," she said. I turned to Murphy who wasn't looking great. "So you gonna tell us what the hell that was back there?" I asked him. "That was me saving our asses princess," Murphy said. "No," I said standing and leaning over h8m to check the glove box. "That was some kind of Jedi mind trick," I said opening the glove box and pulling a map out. Warren hit a Z and I ended up in Murphy's lap. 'If you wanted to sit on my lap princess all you had to do to was say so," he said smirking. "I was getting this," I said opening the map. 

"Hmm.... 10k!" I said. "What?" He asked. "Come e're," I told him. He scooted up front between the seats "why are you sitting on Murphy's lap?" He said. "I fell. I need to read this. We need to find a place to hold up for the night," I said. "You traveled the world and can't read a map?" He said. "In my defense, I didn't need to I had other ways," I said. "And what would that be," Murphy asked. "Lying to get men to trust me then seducing them," I said matter of fact. "There's a road up on the right a few miles ahead if you turn there looks like there's a small housing development or something," 10k said looking at the map. 

He gave me the map and went back to Cassandra. I thought it was cute he had a little crush. "You can move now," Murphy said. I put the map in the glove box and then leaned back against his chest completely ignoring him. "Get off me," he said. I looked at Warren "did you hear something?" I said. "Nope nothing," she said chuckling. "I hate you both," he said. I eventually felt his right hand slid up onto my hip and snake around my waist. Warren turned on the road 10k said about and about a mile to the left was an old housing development. 

"Go for one that's closest or check a couple out first?" I asked. "Well check a couple out first see what we can get and then pick one to stay in," Warren said parking the van. We hoped of the van going around back and looked around. "Alright, Doc and 10k check that house out. Nik stays here with Murphy and Cassandra. I'll check out this house out and Hollar is I need you but she can't be left alone," Warren said. "Alright," I told her. "Okay. Grab anything useful be back here in 20 minutes," she said and they headed off. 

Cassandra was laying in the back of the van sleeping after Doc gave her pain medication he had stashed away. I leaned against the closed back door and leaned my head back and closed my eyes. "Don't even think about going anywhere, Murphy. I will chase your ass down," I said. I heard his feet on the blacktop and then the warmth from the sun was gone. I opened my eyes to see Murphy in front of me. "What?" I said looking up at him. He put his hands on either side of my head and leaned down, putting his lips by my ear "You talk too much," he whispered. He kissed my neck and my breath hitched and my knees went weak. 'Fuck! You need to stop this' I thought to myself. I put my hands on his chest and pushed him away. Good thing too because Warren, 10k and Doc came back. "We got some first aid stuff and food," 10k said. "I got a few cans of food and water," Warren said. 

"What house we going to?" I asked. "We'll take the beside the one I went to," Warren said. 10k lifted Cassandra up and carried her. "You got gotta her?" I said. "Yeah, I'm good," he said. I grabbed my bat and we walked towards the house. "Ya know I haven't seen any Zs since we got here," I said. "We didn't run into any either," Doc said. "Just keep your eyes and ears open," Warren told us. We walked up to the house and Warren opened the door making sure she had her machete ready. We walked in and I shut the door behind us and locked it. "Here sit her here on the couch and stay with her," I told 10k as he laid her on the couch.

"Murphy!" I yelled he had disappeared. "I swear Warren he's not going to make it to Cali if he keeps running away," I said. "I know Nik. Murphy!" She said. Murphy came back into the living room "There are no zombies," he said. "What the hell is wrong with you!" I said. "I want to go to sleep. I didn't sense any Zs," he said. "Alright. Everyone gets a partner...." Warren started. Murphy grabbed my wrist "got one. Let's go, princess," he said and dragged me to a room upstairs. I pulled my arm out of his grasp "dude! You can't just assume I want..." I said but he cut me off by putting his over my mouth. "You really talk too much Nik," he said. I just glared at him and pulled his hand away. "Just go to bed like you wanted Murphy," I told him.   
  
Murphy went and laid down on the bed putting his arms under his head. I went and stood by one of the windows looking out at the sunset. The sky was orange, the sun was going down behind the hills it looked peaceful out like it was before the zombies took over. "Come lay down princess I'll know if a zombie is here," Murphy said. "I'm good," I told him. "Suit yourself," he said and closed his eyes. I stood at the window and kept an eye out for any danger. It was strange that there were no Zs around here. 

Thinking Murphy was asleep I opened the door cringing when it squeaked, I slowly started to walk out as quiet as possible "where do you think you're going, princess?" I heard Murphy say. " I'm going to check on my brother and stop calling me princess," I told him and shut the door. I walked down the steps and into the living room. 10k was standing by a window with his rifle and Cassandra was still on the couch sleeping. "Hey, how's everything down here?" I said. "Quiet. Doc gave Cassandra more pain meds," he said. "Good. Isn't it a little strange that there's no Zs here?" I asked walking to stand beside him. "Yeah. It's like the apocalypse never happened here," he said. "Right! I just have a bad feeling about this place," I said. "Well as soon as the sun starts coming up we're leaving," 10k told me. 

"Shouldn't you be upstairs watching Murphy?" 10k asked after a few minutes of silence. "Murphy can take care of himself," I said. "You like him a lot I can tell," he said. "Do not! Little shit. How about we talk about the crush you have on Cassandra," I said smirking at him. 10k put his head down his face turned bright red. "I'm not good with girls I've never had a girlfriend I haven't even kissed a girl," he said. "You will one day. You'll find someone and you'll just know that they're the right person," I told him. "I'm going to bed. I love you," I told him putting my hand in his cheek and smiled. "Love you too," he said. I started walking back towards the stairs "Get some rest," I said and walked back up to the room. 

I opened the bedroom door slowly and just enough for me to squeeze through. "Took you long enough," I heard and jumped a little. "Damnit, Murphy! Give me a heart attack," I said. I walked over to the other side of the bed and sat down. I untied my boots taking them off and laid back. Looking up to the ceiling I thought for a minute before speaking. "Murphy?" "Hmmm," he hummed. Rolling on my side to look at him and propping myself up on one arm. "When we were outside..... what was that all about?" I asked him. "What was what all about?" He asked. "You know..... you...kissing my neck," I said quietly. He looked at me turning on his side "it was to shut you up. You really do talk too much," he said. "You're an ass," I huffed out and rolled my eyes. 

"While we were waiting out there did you sense any Zs?" I asked him. "No. But I'm sure it's nothing," he said and laid back in his back. "Maybe," I mumbled. "So.... that girl back at Sisters of Mercy seemed to really like you," I said looking down. 

Okay yes, I'm still jealous about it stop judging me. Even if he looks like he's a Z and has scars all over his abdomen from being bit eight fucking times, and looks like he might turn and eat my face off I still find the man attractive and okay he's an asshole but I've always been attracted to guys like that it gives more of a reason to sass back to them. 

"Yeah... she was a little strange though. The pie was good and she worshipped me like a king," he said. "You're not a king Murphy. I doubt you're even good in bed," I said laying on my back. "I'm sure you were good at being someone's bitch in jail though," I laughed. Next thing I knew I had a very angry Murphy on top of me. "Like I said you talk too much Nik. Maybe I should teach you a lesson," he said and attached his lips to my neck. I squeaked in surprised "Murphy," I tried to sound demanding but it came out as a moan 'fuck me and my sexual needs' I thought. 

He started unbuttoning my flannel when there was a loud knock on the door. Murphy groaned "Go away!" He yelled. "Gotta go now!" Warren said from the other side. I pushed Murphy off of me and quickly put my boots on and laced them up. Jumping up I grabbed my bat and my bag and flung the door open. "Let's go Murphy, now!" I said. He groaned and walked after me as a ran down the stairs. "What's going on is there Zs?" I said. "No," Warren said. "Okay, then what?" I asked. "Look outside," she said. I walked over to the back window she pointed at and moved the curtain just enough to see outside. There was a group of men on bikes in the back yard of the house across from us. "Let's go before they figure out we're here," I said. 

10k picked Cassandra up and we made our way out of the house and to the van as fast and as quiet as possible. Once everyone was in the van Warren backed up and took off making sure to drive as fast as she could just in case they saw us. I looked out the back window of the can door for about 10 minutes before moving my way upfront. "I'm pretty sure they didn't even notice us," I said. "We need to find a radio get a hold of CZ," Warren said. "Yeah we need to coordinates," I said. 

After a few hours of driving we pulled over and decided to just sleep in the van and take shifts keeping watch then in the morning we would get a hold of CZ and head towards California. 


	12. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

We were pulled over somewhere west of the Rockies and Warren was on the radio with CZ.   
"Not sure how much longer we can hold it together," she told him. "It's only another 150 miles," he told her. "We have a man down, Cassandra. She's not looking good. And then there's the package," she said. "Uh, what about the package?" He asked. "Don't know exactly, but Murphy's acting weird. More than usual. Where's this new destination?" She said. "It's Fort Collins, Colorado," CZ told us. "Colorado? What happened to California?" I asked. "Lab's dark again. Maybe for good. You've been redeployed," CZ told you. "By whose orders?" Warren asked. "Well, I started picking up a teletype signal on the old civil defense frequency. At first, I thought it was a hacker, but it turns out it's Doctor Merch. Yeah, that Doctor Merch. The one who injected Murphy," he said. 

"So delivery Murphy to Fort Collins. Doctor Merch will be there with her team to meet you," CZ said. "No more California?" Warren asked. "Colorado is the new California," he said. "Copy," Warren says. We looked over to see 10k with Cassandra who was on the ground throwing up. "She's getting worse. We need to get her help somehow. Find antibiotics" I said as I watched my brother help her. Murphy was in the van waiting. "How much gas do we have left?" Warren asked. "I dunno, half a tank or so," Doc said. "Make it 150 miles?" She asked. "Well if it's mostly downhill," he said. "Were really low on ammo too," I said. 

"I'll go to tell Murphy," I said. I walked over and tapped on his window. "Yeah?" He said after rolling the window down. "found a taker," I said. "For what?" He asked. "For you," I told him. "What about California?" He asked me. "New orders. We are headed to a lab in Fort Collins," I said. "Fort Collins? What the hell is in Fort Collins?" He said. "Dr. Merch is there waiting for you," I said. "Doctor Merch? Yeah, I got a bone to pick with that bitch," he said. "That bitch is the reason you're still alive," I told him. "Define alive," he said. You all got in the van. Doc drove and Murphy was upfront with him while the rest of us were in the back. 

  
"Well, Murphy. I think I'm gonna miss your sorry ass," Doc said. "I appreciate the sentiment," Murphy said. "We logged some miles together, brother," Doc says. "Amen," Murphy said. "Starting to feel like a damn family. You know what I'm sayin'?" Doc asked. "Uh, I... I dunno if I've actually ever said this to anybody before but I... I almost consider you a friend," Murphy told him. "Yeah, I don't envy you though, man. I mean, hell, once we deliver you, all bets are off. They're gonna have more needles stuck in you than the damn tomato in grandma's sewing basket," Doc said. "No, they're... they're just gonna take out my..." Murphy stuttered. "Oh, trust me, they're gonna have some kind of tube or prod rammed in every spare orifice, or my name ain't Sally. You know this one time I had a catheter. Dude, you better hope they don't go that route," Doc said. I could just imagine the horror on Murphy's face. 

  
"Doc," Warren said. "What?" He asked. "How much further?" She asked him. "Uh, I dunno, 65 miles or so. Anyway, I'm gonna miss you, dude " Doc said. "Yeah, right," Murphy mumbled. "How 'bout you, kid? What do you got planned?" Doc asked 10k. 10k looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders I never thought about it. "Uh, I don't know. Still got 6,998 to go. Might take a break for a while though, head up north somewhere cold. The Zs don't fare too well in the cold," 10k said and looked at me. "Yeah, that sounds good. You know I go where you go little brother," I said. "Yeah, I don't fare too well in the cold myself. Roberta?" Doc asked. "Uh, I don't know. Maybe follow the sun west. I've never been to California. How 'bout you, Doc?" She said. "Maybe I'll buy a boat and sail around the world. Find me an island where there's not even a Z in their alphabet," he said. "Caribbeans are nice," I said and we all laughed. 

To be honest I never thought about the group slipping up. I saw them all like mine and the 10ks family. I thought after we got Murphy to California we'd all stick together still and kick some zombie ass together. But it wasn't looking that way. 

We pulled up to a building with Zs outside of it just staring at the shed. "This must be it. Citizen Z said to look for a metal shed with a roll-up door," Warren said. "Like this one?" Murphy askes. "What are they all looking at?" 10k asked. "That's really weird is it not?" I said. "Our entrance," Warren said. "You think we're in the right place?" Looks small," Murphy said. We all go out of the van. "Let me see your hands," Warren said to Murphy. "What? My hands, why? Is this a hygiene thing again?" He said. "Just let her see them," I told him. Murphy held his hands out and Warren cuffed him. 

"What the hell are you doing?" He said. "They're looking for a group of civilians transporting a prisoner," I told him. "I don't want anyone mistaking you as a zombie," Warren told him. "Bullshit. You don't trust me. After all the times I've saved your ass," he said. "Trust has got nothing to do with it. I don't want anyone picking you after we got you this far," she told him. "It's for your safety Murphy," I told him. "Let's just get this over with," he said. He turned and walked straight to the Zs. "Hey," Warren said. "Murphy," Doc called. "Murphy, what the hell?" I asked. The Zs at the door turned and started to make their way towards us. "Shit!" I said and ran to the van. 

  
We made it in the van just in time. The Zs were on either side trying to get in. Me, Doc, and Warren looked out the windshield to see Murphy standing over by the shed. "Fucking bastard," I said as he stood there with a smug look on his face. "How much ammo do we got?" Warren asked "Two bullets," 10k said. "I got one," doc told her. "One?" She said. "I told you," he said. She looked at me "I'm out sorry," I told her. She put down the window a little "Murphy!" Warren yelled. "What?!" He yelled back and we waved him over. "Oh, you want my help?! Sure, why not," he said and started walking towards us. 

"Does he really need to be a prick? And are we really sure that we want to save humanity?" I asked. Warren laughed "you can't kill him Nik," she said. "Damn," I mumbled. "Hold your pants on," he said. He came around and opened the side door. "Follow me," he said. "How do you know?" Warren asked. "I don't," he said. Doc cocked his gun "Don't! Don't do it," Murphy said and we looked at him weirdly. "All right, quick. Group hug," he said. "What?" I asked. "Just do it! You want to live or not?" He said. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the van and stood with my back to Murphy who quickly slid his arms down over my head to my waist. Everyone else got out and huddled around Murphy as well. We slowly began to walk to the shed and buy seemed to be working, the Zs were leaving us alone. 

"Maybe someday you'll learn to trust me," Murphy said. "Man, I hope nobody sees us," Doc said. "Doc?" I said. "Yeah?" He asked. "Shut up," I told him. We got to the shed and we turned so Warren could get to the keypad. I felt Murphy pull me a little closer as the Zs surrounded us. "They won't hurt you while you're with me," he whispered in my ear. I hope he was right. Warren punch the code CZ gave to her and the door opened. 10k, Cassandra, Warren, and Doc ran in and Murphy backed up with me still closely held to him. Once we were in the door shut leaving the Zs outside. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding. "Fuck. Let's never do that again, yeah," I said.

"You know before the apocalypse, I had the same effect on the ladies," Murphy said spinning us around. 10k and Doc turned their heads and looked at him. "You can let go of my sister now," 10k said. I dropped down and out from under Murphy's arms. "So now what?" I asked. Then we started to move going down. We finally stopped and the door opened. We stepped out to see people dead with gunshot wounds to the head blood pooled around them. "Sure doesn't look operational," I said. "All those zombies up there must've wanted something down here," Cassandra said "what?" Warren asked. 

"Same thing they always want. Brains," Doc said. Murphy stopped and looked around "No. Something different. Something inside is attracting them like a magnet. I can feel it," he said. Warren grabbed a badge off one of the dead bodies and swiped it over the pad and the door opened. Drawing her machete we walked in behind her. Walking into what looked to me in a lab there were red lights flashing. There was a table with five dead bodies sitting at it with birthday hats on and A birthday cake on the table. "Happy damn birthday," Warren said. "Uh, reminds me of my 50th," Doc said. "Happy birthday Doctor Kur..." I said looking at the cake. 

"Dibs on the last rose," Murphy said and went overtaking the fristing rose off the cake and putting it in his mouth. 10k and I looked at him "what?" I said my face scrunched up. "What? I can't help it. The damn vaccine makes me crave sugar," Murphy said. "Well if you start craving brains, let me know," Doc said. "Ha-ha," Murphy said sarcastically. We heard a crash and looked towards where it came from. "Puppies and kittens," Warren said. 10k and Doc raised their guns and I held my bat up ready to bash open a Zs head if need be. 

Warren went behind us and went up to Murphy. "Murphy. Considering the situation..." She said. "How did you..." she said and I turned to see Murphy had broken the cuffs. "Pilates," he said. I shook my head and rolled my eyes ar him. "Here they come," Doc said. "Come on, let's take cover," Warren told us. Cassandra went and sat up against one of the machines and Warren and Murphy went over by her. I stood begins Doc and 10k. 10k had his rifle up and took aim then pulled the trigger."Three thousand and two," he said. 

A Z with a face shield and yellow suit came running around the corner of one of the machines and Doc aimed and shot it in the head. The Z fell backward and blood splattered all over the wall behind it. "Well I hope that was a zombie," Doc said. "Incoming at eleven o'clock," Warren said. "That's all you, kid. I'm out," Doc told him. 10k held his rifle up and looked through the scope, he rooks the shot but missed. "Damn," he said with a little disappointment in his voice. I put my hand on his shoulder "It's okay, kid. Remember that time in Missouri at the Piggly Wiggly?" Doc said. "Frozen food section?" 10k said. "Guys? Zombies," I said. 

The Z moved making its way towards us. Doc picked up the cake and as the Z came towards us he smashed it in its face and 10k came up behind it smashing it in the head. The Z dropped to the floor and you stood there impressed. "Three thousand and three," Doc said. I heard music playing that sounded like a cell phone. "What is that?" Murphy asked. "It sounds like a phone," I said. We followed the sound "Over here," Do say coming up to a desk with a computer and with a dead man sitting at it. His phone was in his hand. "Looks like he was texting his wife or somebody when it went down," Doc said. "Well that's not depressing," I said sarcastically. 

Doc picked the phone up "Something happened at the lab today. Can't talk now. I'll call you later. Won't be home till late, not telling us why. Putting us under quarantine. Will update when I know anything. Starting to get scared, something very wrong. Something infecting us. We might not get out of here.," he read. The phone dinged "This is a new message here from Citizen Z. Operation Bite Mark. If you get this message, please respond. Hacked and searching the lab mainframe. Discovered files you should be aware of. Really weird stuff. Find a working computer. Search HZN1 test results backslash code name level nine," he read out loud. 


	13. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

Murphy moved the Zs and sat down and started to type "What's the passcode?" He asked. "Red death," Doc said "Catchy," I said. Murphy searched and clicked on the files. It came up with a video of monkeys. Their eyes were white and the one was squawking at the camera. Then it flicked to a few more videos showing other monkeys. "Not surprising they were doing animal testing," Warren said. "Yeah, but what were they testing?" I asked. "Look at the date on these videos. It's the year before anybody was infected," Murphy said looking back at us. "How did they know to be working on a vaccine before anybody was infected," I said. Then something popped up on the screen "What's this?" Warren asked. Murphy turned and looked at the screen "That's her. That's Doctor Merch. That's the bitch that did this to me, he said pointing at her picture. "Okay, okay," I said and put my hand on his left shoulder while Warren put her hand on his right shoulder. Murphy then clicked on a new video and Dr. Mercy popped up. 

"Let's start again from the beginning," she said talking to a man on the other side of the glass. "Doctor Merch, I just got through telling you," the man said. "Tell me again. We're just trying to help you," she told him. "Don't believe her!" Murphy said. "I took the suit off after my shift," the man said. "At what time?" She asked. "7:15, as I said," he told her. "And then what?" She asked. "Tossed it in the incinerator and went straight to decontamination," he said. "Let's back up a second," she said. The man was getting frustrated. "How many times are we gonna..." he started only to be cut off. "When you took off your suit, in what order did you remove your items?" She asked him. "I followed protocol," he said. "Which is?" She asked. "Boots. And unzipped my suit. Removed it. And gloves," he listed. "And then what?" She said. 

"Tossed it in the incinerator," he said. "And went straight to..." she started "To decontamination," he finished. "Did you notice anything different on this day when handling your samples?" She asked. "I left the samples exactly where I found them, he said. "Did you come in contact with anything in the lab, anything sharp that could've punctured your..." she started asking. "I told you these ten times!" He interrupted. "Well, something happened. There's no denying it," she told him. "Something happened. The decontamination alarm went off. That's what happened. That's right," he told her. "No, but it's wrong. That's what needs to be investigated, why the alarm went off. That's what we're trying to find out. What form of contamination set off the pathogen alarm," she said. "No. Cuz this is a false alarm. The sensor made an error because I... I didn't touch anything. I didn't puncture my suit. I didn't remove any items out of order. I followed the protocol. Am I gonna be sick?" He said. 

"Well I'm guessing it didn't end too well for old Doyle here," Murphy said. "Okay, who's for getting out of here right now? Show of hands," Doc said. 10k, me and Cassandra put our hands up except for Warren and Murphy. "Okay. It's back out to the apocalypse it is," he said. "Nobody's going anywhere," Murphy said and stood up. "This is not a goddamn democracy. We came here to find Doctor Merch, and that is exactly what we are going to do," he said. "He's right. If she's down here, we just can't leave her. She is still our only chance at a vaccine," Warren said. "You're right. I just thought we might want to, I dunno, live," Doc said. "Yeah, well quit your dreaming and let's go," Murphy said and started walking. We shook our heads and followed him. 

We walked into another lab and the phone Doc took from the dead guy started ringing. He stopped and pulled it out of his pocket and accepted the call. "Zombie apocalypse, how may I direct your call?" He said. "Uh, yeah, what's left of us. This is Doc speaking," he greeted. "Correctomundo. Nice to hear your voice. So what fresh hell awaits us?" Doc asked. "Well that sounds great to me cuz I ain't had a decent shower since, let's see, New York," he said. "Shower?" I said. "Def con One? Well isn't that some kind of nuclear term?" Doc asked and my eyes went wide. "What am I not surprised?" Doc said. "Yeah, what's that?" Doc asked. He then hung up with CZ and we headed to decontamination. 

"Naked?" I said. "That's what he said. Naked. And then we got to put all our clothes and stuff in this chute here to get decontaminated with some liquid nitrogen," Doc said. "So what are we waiting for?" Murphy said starting to unbutton his shirt. "For y'all to turn around. And no peeking," Warren said. "I hate this," I mumbled. We all undressed and stood in a circle our backs to each other. Warren had 10k on her right, Cassandra was on the other side of 10k and I stood on her other side with Murphy to my right and Doc stood between him and Warren. Murphy looked over at me and smirked "Stop staring at me," I growled. I felt Cassandra's hand on my shoulder. "Eyes up front, young man," I heard Warren say. "Sorry. Sorry," 10k said and I chuckled. "Cassandra, you okay?" I asked her. "I feel like I'm gonna pass out," she said. "You hang in there. Doc, what now?" Warren said. 

"Oh, we got to put these on," he said and handed around little tanning goggles. "And... and then you got to hit that button marked decontamination in front of you, 10K," he said. "Murphy. Your scars. It looks like it's spreading," Warren said. I looked over at Murphy as he touched the scar on his shoulder "That's what I wanted to talk to Doctor Merch about," he said. "We'll find her," I told him. 'Well put your goggles on and quit staring. I'm not the goddamn elephant man. I'm a human being. Sort of," Murphy said once he noticed we were looking at him. "Are you ready?" 10k asked. "Just do it," Murphy said. "Fucking rude much," I said. 

10k hit the button and A bright light hit us. After a few minutes, it was done and we got our clothes and got dressed. "Man, I think I fried my gonads," Doc said. "I shoulda used sunscreen on my junk," he said. "Hey. You're okay," 10k asked Cassandra who slid down to the floor. "I don't think I can go much further," she said. "I've got her. I'll carry her if I have to," 10k said. "Okay. Sure," Warren said. 10k picked her up bridal style and we left the examination area. 

Walking down a hall we came to a door. Warren pulled it open "Can you see anything?" Doc asked. "Hold on, little too dark," she said and turned her flashlight on and pointed it through the open door. "There's some kind of emergency lights flashing," she said. "Dude, it says quarantine. Can't we just believe them?" Doc said stopping Murphy when he went to go in. "What are you, high? We're infected already, remember?" Murphy said. Murphy walked through the door Warren right behind him. 10k walked through with Cassandra and me and Doc followed. 

"What is this place?" Warren asked. We looked around to see a steel door with small round windows. Going over to one with Murphy we looked inside to see a guy with a bunch of IVs in him and no legs. "Oh my god," I whispered. "This isn't a hospital. It's a goddamn hall of horrors," Doc said. "Hey, look," Warren said. We walked over to where she was and looked through the window to see a woman with small flies all over her. "Oh my God. I hope God doesn't know about this. Cuz if he does..." Doc said. "We should give her mercy," I said. "No. If we open this door, them flies are gonna be feeding on us," He said. "Over here. This one's gone. The door's open," 10k said pointing his light at an open door. 

"Great just great," I said. "What was it?" 10k asked. "The better question is where'd it go?" Warren said. "Well whatever it is, it's still here," Doc said. We heard growling and 10k pointed his light on something "Shut the..." he said. "The fuck is that?" I said and grabbed hold of Murphy who looked at me "what they like you," I said. "There's another one," Warren said. "Murphy. Go talk to them. Do... do that thing you do," Doc said. Murphy looked at me and I let him go. He walked forward and looked at them "Guys. These aren't regular zombies. They're some kind of mutant thing," he said. They started growling "I don't think they like me!" He said. They growled and came towards us I screamed as it grabbed Murphy 10k grabbed me pushing me and Cassandra behind him. Murphy wrestled with both the mutant things. Next thing we know their heads were on the ground. Murphy looked at his games then ar us. 'Let's go find Merch," he said and walked off. 10k picked Cassandra up "What's he gonna do when he catches up to Merch?" Warren askes. "I dunno, but I'm glad I'm not her," Doc said. "Be ready for anything. Let's go," Warren said and we followed Murphy. 

We walked out of the door and back down the hall. I walked with 10k and Cassandra. "I can't do it. Stop," she told 10k. "I can carry you. You're gonna be okay," he told her. "I'm gonna get us all killed. Please, Tommy," she said. He stopped "Okay. Just don't tell anybody my name, all right?" He said smiling at her. "I won't," she told him as he set her down. "Hey, guys!" I said and the rest of the group stopped. Coming back to us "Hey. Is she...?" Warren asked. "She's still alive," 10k said. We found a Gurnee and laid Cassandra on it and put her un a storage room where she'd be safe. "You can stay here and get some rest. And we'll come back for you," Warren said. "Look. I've been saving this special since New York. I want you to have it. Just in case," Warren told her piling a bullet out and putting it in her gun and giving it to her. "Thank you, Warren," Cassandra said. "You got it," Warren said. "You hang in there, darlin'. We're gonna find you some antibiotics, and we're gonna get you straightened out in no time," Doc told her. 

They walked off the room and I stayed with 10k "Thank you, Tommy," she said as he leaned down and hugged her. After he let go I leaned down and kissed her forehead "you're going to be okay," I said. I and 10k walked out into the hall "Guys, come on. I think I found something," Murphy said coming back to us. He looked at us "Is she gonna make it?" He asked. "You might want to say your goodbyes," Warren said. Murphy walked into the storage room and closed the door. I went over to Tommy "Hey you alright?" I said. He just looked at me so I wrapped my arms around him. "She' ll be okay," I told him. Murphy came back out "Let's go," he said and we followed him down the hall. 

"Check this out. This trail of gore leads to here," he said pointing to the floor where there was blood from what looked like a body was dragged. We came to a door "Biocontainment," Murphy said. Warren drew her machete and I tightened my grip on my bat as she opened the door and we walked in. The room was full of what looked like metal coffins or something. "Could this place get any creepier?" Doc said "I hope not," I said. "Yes," Warren said. She stopped and when I got beside her a saw why. "Oh god," I said there on a gurney was half of a body. It still had skin on it and you could see Its ribs and spin and goo surrounded it. We walked over to it "Oh my God. It's alive," I said when it moved. "Is that Doctor Merch?" Doc asked. "No. Somebody else. It's the lab tech in the video," Murphy said. "Okay wow, this is sad. really really sad," I said. 

It tapped its fingers on the keyboard. "He wants us to watch something," Murphy said and it pushed the key starting up a video. "Why are you doing this to me?" The man said. "It's for your own good, Brendon. You've started to react to the virus," Dr. Merch told him. He was strapped down on a table. "Don't give me that shit you've been giving the monkeys. I've seen the side effects," he said. "We can't take the chance the virus has jumped to humans. You'll be the first human trial of the vaccine. We can't wait any longer," she told him. "What's gonna happen to me?" He asked her. "We don't know," she said and injected him. He started to seize on the table "Hold him down. Hold him down! Hold him still. And turn off that camera," Dr. Merch yelled and then the video went to static. 

We all stood there in shock. "The vaccine must have worked. Kept him from turning zombie," Doc said. "But it won't let him die," Warren said. "Did Merch do this to you?" Murphy asked him. There was gurgling and Murphy looked at us. "He's trying to say something," he said. There was mumbling "Kill me. Kill me. Kill me. Kill me," he said. "We're getting the hell out of here," Murphy said standing up. Then CZ popped up on the screen "You've got company. Looks like Doctor Merch and two soldiers headed your way. They should be there any second," he said. "Heads up," Warren said as the door opened. Men in hazard suits walked through. 


	14. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

"Doctor Merch. We meet again," Murphy said. "Doctor Merch didn't make it. I'm her boss, Doctor Kurtz," The one said taki g off his mask. "I'm here to help you save mankind," he said. "We've gone to a great deal of effort to find you, Mr. Murphy," he said. "I've been on a little road trip," Murphy said. "Well, your journey ends here. You're safe now. And your friends are to be commended for their bravery and commitment. Your country, all mankind, owes you a great deal," the guy said. "What's going to happen to him?" I said stepping up beside Murphy. "Well, we'll make him the rest of the way to the lab in California where we'll sequence his genes and clone the antibodies in his blood. Then with any luck, we'll be able to recreate the vaccine that's keeping him alive," he told us. 

I grabbed Murphy's hand and squeezed and he looked down at me. I had a bad feeling about this. "What if I don't want to be your guinea pig?" Murphy said looking back at the doctor. "Well, then you'll eventually wind up just like Brendon Doyle, Patient Zero over there. Speaking of which, someone should really give that poor creature mercy," he said. "I'll do it," Murphy said letting go of my hand and holding it out to Warren who gave him her machete. He walked over to the guy and I followed just in case. "I'm sorry," he told Brendon. "I'm sorry about all of it," he said. "Don't trust him. Don't... trust... him," Brendon whispered. "I give you mercy he said and Murphy stabbed him. 

I looked up at him and he grabbed my hand as we turned around. "I'm not going," Murphy said. "Murphy. This is why we came this far," Warren said. "Explain to me again why I should believe anything you say," Murphy said to the guy. "Let's start with you have no choice," he said. Warren grabbed her machete and held it up "What are you doing?" She said. "Just a precaution," he told her. "Now just hold on a minute. Ain't no reason to just bad. He's just nervous. Right, Murphy?" Doc said. "He's actually very civic-minded," he told the guy. 

We all stood there and Murphy held my hand tighter. "Delta-Xray-Delta! Do you copy? Delta-Xray-Delta! Come in! Oh my God! Oh my God! Delta-Xray-Delta! Do you copy? Delta-Xray-Delta! Really, this is so unnecessary. No one is going to harm you, Mr. Murphy... Delta-Xray-Delta! Quite the opposite. Do you copy? Kill the doctor. You have to kill the doctor," I heard CZ saying looking over to see him holding up a paper that said kill him. I looked at 10k who had noticed it too. Then we heard a knocking sound. "Just a zombie," one of the other guys said. "Give it mercy so it won't attract more," the doctor said. "Zombies can't open doors, can they?" The guy said. 

The door opened to reveal Cassandra. She had a bit on her right cheek and I looked up at Murphy. I looked at 10k who was confused."Don't shoot," she said. "She's a zombie. Mercy her," the doctor said. "I'm not dead," she said. We all looked at Murphy he let go of my hand and walked over to her "Kill him," he told her. She looked at him then at the doctor. She grabbed the guy standing closest to her and made him fire at the doctor and the other guy. Then she took a knife and slit his throat. The doctor shot Cassandra and Murphy was at the door. "Murphy wait!" Warren yelled. The doctor shot at him and Murphy ran. 

The shooting continued and Doc went down. The doctor running out after Murphy. "Doc!" 10k said. "Doc. Doc. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Look at me. Look at me," Warren said. I kept looking at the door and 10k noticed "Nik don't," he said. I looked at him and sighed dropping to my knees. "Doc? Hey stay with us," I said putting my hand on his cheek looking him in the eyes.

Murphy ran down the halls and back to the Decontamination area. He shut and locked the doors running to try and open the door to get out.   
"Murphy!" He heard and stopped looking around then finally find a camera. "You. You set me up, you bastard. You set us all up!" He yelled. "No! No, I didn't. I had no idea this was gonna happen. I swear. You have to believe me," CD said to him. "No, I don't! I don't have to believe anything anyone says ever again! Especially you!" He yelled. "You have got to listen to me. You're infected with the virus. If you attempt to exit the lab without going through decontamination, you're gonna set off the fail-safe," CZ told him. "And why should I care?" Murphy said. "Damn it, Murphy! Listen!" CD said. "I lost everything! Including myself!" Murphy yelled. "Murphy. A tactical nuclear weapon will be launched from NORAD to incinerate the lab. If you go up, you will kill everyone there, including Warren, Doc, Nik, and the others. Do you read me? Murphy, do you read me? Murphy!" CZ said. alarms were sounding "Murphy! I did not set you up. Do you copy? Murphy!" CZ said again. Murphy broke the door and ran out. loud alarms started sounding. "Failsafe activated. Fail-safe activated. Seven minutes to detonation," a voice said as the doctor stood there and shot the locks off the door and ran.

"Come on, Doc. Come on, Doc," Warren said as she gives him chest compressions. "Six minutes to detonation," the alarm said. "Fucking Murphy," I mumbled. "Wake up, Doc. Come on," She said. The two men the were with the doctor turned Z. 10k got up to take care of it but Cassandra attacked them "Get out of here! Get out of here!" She said. "Wake up, Doc," Warren said. As Doc started to come to. "Get out of here now!" Cassandra yelled. "Five minutes to detonation," the alarm said. 10k and Warren helped doc and we started running out of the building. "Come on. Come on," I said. "Four minutes to detonation," the alarm said. "Three minutes to detonation," "Look," 10k said. "What is it?" He said picking the skin. "Is that all that's left of Murphy?" Doc asked. "It's his skin. He shed his skin," Warren said. "Oh my god 10k put that down," I said. "Keep it. Make some awesome boots out of that," Doc said. We got back up to the top and ran outside. "Where's Murphy?" I said. "Where's the van?" 10k said. "Murphy. Come on, let's take this," Warren said and we laid Doc inside the SUV. "Look," 10k said and we looked up to see the missile. "Let's go," Warren said and we got in and she floors it. "Cassandra?" 10K asked. "God, I hate the fucking apocalypse," I said. 


	15. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

There was a loud explosion, bright light and the ground under the wheels shook. Warren was driving as fast as she could go get away from the blast. I was in the back with Doc looking behind us. "I'm going to ficking kill Murphy when we find him!" I growled. Warren headed for a tunnel pulling in just as the shock wave hit us. The car flipped and skidded. Everything went black after that. 

"Nik? Nik! Wake up!" 10k said shaking me. I groaned slowly opening my eyes. "Fuck!" I said. He helped me out then we got Doc out. "Watch the shoulder," he said. We stood up and looked out seeing the white stuff falling from the sky. "Holy shit. Is that snow?" Doc asked. "Nah, that's not snow. That's ash. Radioactive fallout," Warren told him. "Shit. Now, what do we do?" You said. "We look for Murphy," Warren said. "Oh goody," I said. We looked through the cars and found anything to cover up with. Wrapping scarfs around our heads and faces so we didn't breath in the air. Then we started walking. 

We walked for a good while me and 19k helping Doc. We were in some kind of junkyard when he starts stumbling. "Okay. Let's get you over here," I said. We sat him down "What is it?" Warren asked. 'The bleeding stopped, but Just go. Find me a hole to crawl in. Leave me a weapon and some ammo," Doc said. "Hey. Nobody's leaving you here to die," I told him. "Here, take the last of the water. Go on. Pretty weak myself," Warren said. "We wait here too long, we might be too weak to go look for help. I've only got a day in me without water, if that," she told us. "Well I don't think I'm going anywhere, Chief," Dic told her. "10K Nik, you stay here with Doc. I'm going to see if I can find food or help while I still got the strength. If I'm not back in 48 hours, you're on your own," she said. "Good luck," 10k told her. "Thanks," she said and walked off. 

I turned and looked around "Great. Fucking Murphy has to mess everything up doesn't he," I said. "Warren will be back soon and then you can kill Murphy," Doc said. I laughed and walked over to him sitting beside him. "How about we look around?" I said. We started walking around when we saw a single. Running we came to a tower "Holy shit! It's Mack and Addy!" I said. We got up to the top if an RV and 10k laid down setting up his rifle and shot the Z Mack was struggling with. Both Addy and Mack turned and looked up at us and we all waved at them. "3,099," 10k said. "We saw your single," Doc yelled.

I jumped down running over to them. "Addy! Mack! It's so good to see you!" I told them and gave them both a hug. "Where's Warren?" Addy asked. We went through everything that has happened since the last time we saw them and they hooked up a trailer to the four-wheelers they had. Me, Doc, Addy and 10k sitting in the wagon while Mack drove the four-wheelers. We were driving down the road when we saw someone standing on the side. "It's Warren!" I said and Mack pulled up beside her and she got in the trailer and we took off down the road again. 

We were riding through a town when Addy spoke "Oh hey! My Spanish is terrible, but I'm sure this is what they were talking about," she yelled talking about the broadcast she heard. "I wonder who else heard that broadcast," I said. "Ten o'clock!" Mack said. "I see them. Just keep going!" Warren said as we passed a car with people I'm it looking at us. "Folks are friendly here in Cheyenne," Doc said. "Friendly ain't the vibe I'm getting. Let's find Murphy and get the hell out of Dodge," Warren said. "Cheyenne," Doc told her. "Whatever. Okay so we all need to think like Murphy," Warren told us. "Get inside his zombified head," I said. "And I know that's a scary place to be. But where would you hide if you were Murphy?" Warren said. "Hey, hold on!" 10k said and we looked to where we were pointing. "A strip club?" I said. "You say think like Murphy?" He said looking at Warren. 

We pulled over and got out walking towards the strip club. "This should interesting," I mumbled.   
"Hell, they might as well have his picture on the sign," Doc said. We walked in to see Murphy surrounded by Zombie strippers and other Zs "Hey, guys. What the hell took you so long?" He said. "Murphy, you son of a bitch," I yelled him. "Yeah, what she said," Doc said. "Now, now, Nik. Is that any way to talk to an old friend?" He said smiling at you. "Imma kills him," I said walking towards him and slammed him against the bar. The Zs started to get up and Murphy puts his hands up.   
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey," he said and they stopped. "That hurt," he said. "Oh. Well, I'm just getting started," I growled and pushed him into the bar more. "Now come on, Nik. Hey. Don't forget the mission. Come on," Doc said.

Murphy and I stared each other down. 'Come on princess don't be like that," he said. I let him go and stepped back. Warren walked over in front of him "You damn near got us killed. And you did kill millions of other people," she said. "Didn't you get the memo? The Apocalypse means never having to say you're sorry. I was just following the prime directive of this mission. Dave Murphy's ass. Let's not forget. If I die, the party's over for the human race. If you want to blame somebody, blame that nutjob Doctor Kurian. Or your little buddy Citizen Z," Murphy said. "For fuck sake Murphy you nuked the fuckung world!" I growled at him.

"Maybe we should tie you up for your own good," 10k said walking towards him. Cassandra jumped in front of him to stop him from going anywhere near Murphy. "Cassandra," 10k said and pulled her into his chest. She just hissed at him. "You're alive," he said. He pulled her back and put both hands on her cheeks looking at her "Cassandra?" He said. She just looked up at him and he looked at her. "What did you do to her?" 10k asked Murphy. She had a bite mark on her One cheek and her eyes were like Murphy's. "Saved her life. What did you do?" He said. Cassandra hissed and pulled away from 10k. "I'm sorry. What is she wearing? Is that mildly impractical for the Apocalypse?" Addy asked. "You try dressing a classy lady in Cheyenne, Wyoming," Murphy said.

"Hey, is anybody else concerned that there's all these Zs standing around here?" Doc said. "Don't worry. They're friendly. As long as I'm friendly," Murphy said. "Come on, Murphy. We got to get you to California," Warren said. "Yeah. About California, You know after everything that happened, the nukes and all I'm not so sure I'm down with the whole saving humanity thing. I'm not so sure humanity is worth saving," He said. "You're going to California," she told him. "You don't even know if California is still there," he said. "Well look if you won't do it for humanity, do it for yourself, Murphy. You need that vaccine more than anybody. Have you looked in the mirror lately?" I said. "You may be styling, but you're turning zombie, brother," Doc said. "Brother Maybe there are worse things than being a zombie. Maybe being a starving fearful violent vindictive human is worse. But hey! It is Apocalypse! Let's have some fun! Let me show you what I've been working on. Come on. Grab a seat. You're gonna love this. The Apocalypse will still be waiting for us when we're done. Cassandra!" Murphy said. 

We all sat down at the bar. 10k grabbed a glass with whiskey and I took it from him "I'll take that," I said and downed it. Murphy went up in the stage where the pole was "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Ah, so nice to see so many familiar faces in the audience tonight! Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for the one the only Chantrelle," he said and a zombie stripper came out. "You have got to be kidding me," I said. She grabbed the pole and started spinning when Cassandra started the music. She spun around faster and faster until her arm popped off and she went flying off the stage her warm still in the pole. "Well I hope she ain't working for tips," Doc said. "Whoa. I'm having a déjà vu," he said. "Murphy," Warren said. "I know, right? Wait. It gets better. Ta-da! I know. I know. The finale needs a little work. But hey, let's hear it for Chantrelle!" He said. He laughs "Oh, come on!" He said. So we all started clapping. 

"Is this a private show or can anybody watch?" I heard and turned to see a man standing near the door. We all started grabbing for our weapons "Ah... ah... ah. Leave your weapons right where they are. Don't make me have to shoot anybody," he said. "There's enough zombies in this world already." "What do you want?" Murphy said. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Murphy, would it?" The guy asked. "Nope," he simply said. "Lot of people looking for you Mr. Murphy," the guy told him. "That so?" Murphy asked. Warren spoke up next "This man... he's our prisoner," she told the guy. "Well he's my prisoner now," he told her.

"Uh no. Sorry. She's right. We got dibs on him," I told him. "Yeah. And we're taking him to California," Doc said. "No, you're not. He's coming with me," he said. "Where?" Murphy asked. "To the highest bidder. CDC in California aren't the only ones willing to pay for his blood," he told us. "Why does everybody always talk about me like I am not standing right here? You know there's only one problem with all of your plans for The Murphy. I ain't going anywhere with any of you. Hit it!" Murphy said. Cassandra started playing musicians the Zs started to stand up. We all got up and ended up in a fight. "We got to get out of here," I said. "I know. I can't stand this music. Let's go!" Warren told us. "What do we do now, Chief?" Doc asked. "I made a promise to a little girl. And I'm gonna keep it. We are going to find Murphy, get him to California, and they're going to make a vaccine and save the world. And I'm gonna kill any bounty hunter that gets in my way," she said. "Sounds like a plan. Any idea which way Murphy went?" I asked. "He went that way," 10k said. We headed out the door where Murphy went and then split. Warren went one way and Addy and Mack went another. Doc and 10k were together and I went another in search of Murphy once again. 

  



	16. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

We all met up in an ally chasing Murphy and Cassandra. The guy from earlier right in front of us. "Murphy!" Warren yelled. We chased them out into the street when Murphy came to a stop as a black SUV driven by the guy from the bar stopping and shooting at it. We all ducked behind a car as the SUV crashed into another car. He continued to kill the men in the SUV while Murphy made a run for it. "Shit! Murphy took off," I said. 

"Okay, it's like that then," Warren said. A red jeep drives in front of us while a van was behind us. The van stopped and they pulled out a shotgun and started firing. "Look out!" Mack yelled. 10k ran behind a building while the rest of us moved behind a different car. "Look out kid!" Doc yelled just as 10k ran behind the building. "10K! Murphy!" Warren yelled at him and he nodded and ran off. "Ugh! What the hell is going on?!" Addy said. "It's a damn Murphy free for all!" Doc told her. 

The man that was shot turned Z and looked up at us. "I think it's time we need to..." Doc started but was cut off by Warren "Time to go!" She yelled and we all got up and took off. As we ran down the road there was an explosion behind us. There was gunfire all around us. "This is ridiculous!" I said. 

We found 10k laying on the ground not moving. "10k!" I yelled me and Doc running over go him and picking him up off the ground while Mack, Addy, and Warren covered us. "10k? Are you alright?" I said. "You scared the hell out of me, kid," Doc said. "Where am I?" 10k asked. "Don't worry. We got you now," I told him. "What?!" He yelled. "I said we got you now!" I said. "I can't hear you!" He yelled. The others were shooting at the people in the street. "Why the hell is everybody shooting at everybody?!" Addy yelled. "Cuz Murphy's the golden goose!" I yelled back. "We're sitting ducks here. We're gonna have to split up into groups and keep moving," Warren told us. "10K, are you all right?" She asked. "What?!" He yelled. "I think he's deaf," Doc said. 

"Nik, Doc. You take him with you. You guys, get to the alley and cut east and advance north. Mack and Addy, you guys take the westside. We'll flush him out," Warren instructed. "Got it!" I said. "Well... well what about the bounty hunters?" Doc asked. I took my gun out and cocked it. "Kill them too! On my call. We'll cover you," she told us. Doc lifted 10k up and we got ready to run. T"three, two, one. Go!" Warren said as she, Addy and Mack covered us and we ran. 

We ran to what looked like a motel or apartments and hid behind the trucks. Doc ran to a black truck and then took cover. He looked at me and 10k and counted to Three and We ran to another truck. As we got there someone shot and we dropped down. Then doc ran to a car across from is and looked around. He tried to tell us something but we couldn't understand him so he moved over to us and gestured towards the building. 10k looked through the window of the truck to see what he was looking at. "What do you see?" I said. "Murphy!" He yelled looking at Doc. Doc shushed him. "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Ready? Go," he whispered and we ran to another car. 

"The Zs must've followed him inside. But I think I know a back entrance," Doc said. "Might be safer," I said. 10k just looked at us. "Can you hear anything we're saying?" I said. "What?!" He yelled. Someone shot at us and we ducked. "Jesus!" Doc said. "This is ridiculous! What the hell are we doing here?" I said. "That's a rhetorical question," I told them. "All right, ready? I'll cover. You two-run. One. Two. Three. Go," Doc said. I and 10k went running but we were shot at. "Damn! They got us pinned," I said. 10k held up a hubcap and the person shot at it. "Sniper," he said. "Great," me and Doc said. 10k leaned over a little "Second floor. The seventh window from the right," he said. "You think you can take him out?" Doc asked. Doc went to turn when a Z leaned out the window making him jump up and run for the building. "Fuck!" I yelled and 10k grabbed me and we ran to another car while we got shot at. 

"Can you rake him out?" I said. "Yeah," he told me. The sniper kept shooting at us and then 10k shot and he backed off and I ran for the building. I ran into the same door as Doc and found him in the stairwell "Doc!" I whispered. "Nik, where's 10k?" He said. "Outside. He got the sniper to back off," I told him. I held my vat up and rested my run on top of it. We made our way up the stairs and into a room and out onto a balcony. We looked down to see 10k and he nodded towards where the sniper was. We slowly moved our way towards him. 10k kept cover as We snuck towards the room. We looked down and he nodded his head towards the right. We stopped and hid behind a small wall them doc said a little pray or something before we moved inside. We walked into the other room quietly walking up behind the sniper. 

Doc went to shoot but his gun jammed "Damn it!" He said and he throws it at him. And then he ran towards him and started fighting him. The guy backs Doc into a walk and then punched him so I bolstered my gun and jumped on his back trying to chock in with the bat but he throws me off. "Fuck!" I yelled landing hard. Doc kneed him in the gut than in the face knocking him to the floor and picked up a bottle. The guy stood up "Where are we going, man?" Doc said. "Come on! You want some of this?!" The guy said and pulled a knife.   
They danced around and I stood up and joined in. The guy tried slashing his knife at us but Doc broke the bottle over his head and then they were on the floor fighting. I punch the guy the side of the head only for him to punch me so hard saw stars and fell. He got on top of Doc and started choking him. I was having a hard time trying to stay awake but Doc was eventually able to kill him. 

The struggles as he bleeds out and Doc crawled over to him "Nik! Nik! You alright?" He said. "Yeah, yeah I'm good," I said as I started to come back. Then the closest door opened "what's up Doc? Princess?" Murphy said and ran out the door. 'Murphy!" I screamed. Then 10k ran in "What? You okay?" He said running over and kneeling in front of us. He looked at me taking my chin in his hand and looked army face "I'm fine," I told him. "Murphy, he's here," Doc said. "He's in the building?" 10k asked. "Yes! And I'm going to kill him!" I said. "You say that a lot," 10k said and I glared at him. "He just left," Doc said. We got up and started heading for the door but Zswere coming so 10k shut the door "Oh give me a break will ya," Doc said. The guy on the floor turned Z and sat up. "Oh come on!" I said. 

10k lifted his gun and me and Doc ducked and he fired shooting the Z him the head and brains went everywhere. "Fuck 10!" I said. We met up with Warren and the guy from the bar and ran after Murphy. The dumbass jumped off a roof and into a pool of Zs. We ran out of the door and through the parking lot. We found Addy on top of Murphy beating the fuck out of him. "Addy!" Warren yelled. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" Doc said as they pulled her off of him. The guy from the bar kept Cassandra at gunpoint. "What the hell is goin on? What did you do Murphy?" I said. "Nothing!" He told him. "Obviously you did!" I said. Warren had Addy who was crying "You okay?" She said. And daddy nodded. "Where's Mack?" Warren asked and I looked around. Addy just looked at her and shook her head. "Oh my god," I said and tears sprung to my eyes. 

Addy looked at Murphy and just glared while he looked at her with wide eyes. She walked over picked up her bat and went to the passenger side of the van and got in slamming the door. 10k throw doc a top and he slipped it over Murphy's hands. "You but can't stop thinking about yourself can You? It's always about you!" I said as tears run down my face. "I... I.." He stuttered. "Don't," I said. Doc took Murphy to the back of the van and 10k motioned for Cassandra to follow she looked like a scolded child. I just stood there and 10k came up to me "You alright?" He asked. I nodded my head "Yeah. Let's just go please," I said and walked to the back of the van and go it. The guy from the bar got in and shut the door and Warren got in the driver's side and we left Cheyenne Wyoming. 


	17. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

  
After driving for hours we eventually ran out of gas and had to walk. We were trying to keep ahead of the storm and the fallout. "Nik?" Murphy said as we walked. "Don't talk to me Murphy, " I told him. "Come on princess, you can't be mad at me forever," he said. "Oh my God Murphy! Because of you, we ended up getting shot at and Mack is now dead!" I growled. "Oh and not to mention you almost got us nuked, " I told him. He looked down and just fell back. I walked up beside 10k "you good?" He asked. "Yup, " I simply replied. 

We were walking through a field when Murphy spoke up "We are going the wrong direction. Again, " he said. "You left us no choice. Too much fallout in the West," Warren said. "Again. That was not my fault," he told her. "Murphy, don't make me have to explain the term "failsafe doomsday weapon" again. Please," Doc said as we stopped. "How do you even know California's still there?" Murphy asked. "You're looking ripe. You better hope it's still there," I said. "Move," Vasquez said. "You are not the boss of me. She is," Murphy said pointing towards Warren. "Oh and so is she," he said pointing at me. I just rolled my eyes. "I can handle this. Move," Warren said. "Gladly," he said and started walking. "You'll get used to him," Warren said and walked after Murphy. I walked up to him and stooped "no you won't," I said and walked away. 

We walked for a little then stopped. "10K, let me see your scope," Warren said and he gave her his rifle. "Oh, looky here," Warren said looking through the scope down that the road. "What are we gonna do about her?" 10k asked. I looked at him then at Murphy and Cassandra "Cassandra?" I said. "She's not Cassandra. Not anymore," he said. "Maybe there's a way back for her, when we get to California," I told him. "Maybe," he said. "Is that some kind of post-apocalyptic wagon train?" Doc asked as a tractor-trailer and a few cars went down the road. "Well it ain't the 3: 10 to Yuma," Warren told him. 

There was gunfire and the truck pulled to a stop. "Don't get out of the truck," Warren said. "It's gonna be a slaughter," Addy said. "Can't expect to travel through a valley without an ambush. Didn't nobody ever watch westerns growing up?" Murphy commented. We watched as the men got out and had a gunfight. "Looks like they're holding them off. For now," Doc said. "Not bad for a bunch of sitting ducks," Warren said. "Well, you think we should, I dunno, help them?" Doc asked. "No," I said. "Think less like a missionary and more like a mercenary. Let's wait and steal the vehicles from the victor," Vasquez said. "We may not be able to save the world. But maybe we can save them. 10K and Vasquez, that way. Addy, you're with me. Doc and Nik you watch him and her," Warren told us. 

"Yay babysitting Smurphy and his sidekick how fun," I said. "What did you call me?" I heard Murphy. "I called you Smurphy! Murphy," I said turning around. I and Doc went over to Murphy and Cassandra and the rest went their ways. Murphy stood up and looked around "what?" I said. "I don't know," he told me. I looked around but didn't see anything. "Is it Zs?" I asked. "I can't tell. I think so," he said. 

Warren called us down and we walked down to the truck. We sat around the truck. Doc had a can if something his hand using his fingers to scoop it out. "Water?" A woman asked and I shook my head. She continued on and asked 10k who held out a cup."Thank you," he said. "You're a hero kid," Doc told him. A guy walked up to him apparently they called him wrecking ball. "You know you can have soup. You know you just add water," he told Doc. "Cream of shrooms, dude. Water just dilutes the flavor," he told him. You sure you don't want some?" Wracking ball asks 10k. "I had minestrone loaf for breakfast," he said. Doc held the can out to me "no I'm good thanks," I said and he shrugged and kept eating. 

The wrecking ball went over and sat beside Murphy and Murphy scooted over a little "Hydration?" He asked. "Is there somewhere else you could sit?" Murphy asked. "Yup," and he goes up and walked away. I got up and stood in front of Murphy who just looked up at me "princess?" He said. "Smurphy," I countered. "Don't call me that," he said annoyed. "Don't call me princess," I told him and moved closer so I was standing between his legs. Next thing I know Cassandra was beside me growling at me. "The fucking bitch," I said. "It's fine," Murphy told her and she backed off. "Damn jealous much," I said and walked away. 

Me, Murphy, Doc, Warren and Vasquez were talking to the leader of the group. "Three days ago we tangled with some bounty hunters," he said. "Bounty hunters, huh?" Murphy asked. "We don't want to kill you," they said. "We're just thirsty," they said. But I think they were out of their minds. They kept rambling on about some half-zombie half-man with telekinetic powers," he told us.   
"Really?" I said. "Like a world overrun with zombies isn't strange enough," he told us. "Yeah, those... those crazy rumors," Doc said. "Let's get on the road. Saddle up! Edmonton awaits!" He yells and he, Vazquez and Warren walked away. 

"Those guys were nuts. Being able to control zombies with your mind, I mean how badass would that be," wracking ball asked. "Supremely badass," Murphy said as we walked. I just rolled my eyes. "Oh he's a badass," Doc said. "Oh so badass," I said. Murphy flung his arm over my shoulder. "You know I hear he can levitate," Doc said and I snorted. "Oooh levitate?" Wrecking ball said. "Mm-hmmm," Doc hummed. "You guys wanna levitate, I got what you need. Z weed," wrecking ball said. "Z weed?" I asked. 

Wrecking ball took us to his car and we lite up a joint. "Wow, Wrecking Ball. Color me impressed. You know what? I got stoned with a zombie once. Yeah. I swear he caught a buzz too," Doc said. "Where'd you say you got this?" I asked. "I heard they grow it in this abandoned agro lab in Minneapolis. They use zombies for compost " he told us. "No way," Doc said. "Z weed," wracking ball said. "What? Great idea," Doc told him. "That's the story as told to me. I heard they're working on an herbal zombie cure too," wracking ball said. "A lab in Minneapolis, huh?" Murphy asked. There was a knock on the window "Jesus," Doc said. "Don't worry I got this," wracking ball said and put the window down. "What seems to be the problem officer he said to his leader who motioned for him to get out. "Now!" He told him. "Okay," wracking ball said stepping out of the car. "All fright dad," Murphy said. 

Murphy, Doc and I got out of the car and Warren were looking at us. "Look at me. Right here. A jet airliner departs Toronto headed for O'Hare," the guy starts. "Excuse me, stewardess? Will there be a snack service on this flight?" Murphy asked and we laughed. He just ignored him and kept going "150 passengers on board, 20 of them in first class. The plane develops catastrophic engine trouble. The pilot puts it down in Lake Erie. The wreckage straddles the international border. Now, according to maritime law how many of the survivors get buried in Canada? Go!" He said. "Okay, there's... there's 150 passengers. There's 20 in first class. Wait You don't bury survivors," wracking ball said. "You!" The guy said pointing to Murphy. "Look at me. You don't look right to me," he said. "I don't know how I look, but I feel pretty good," Doc said. 

I and Murphy laugh at him and Warren glared at us. "Your friend is gonna have to ride in the medical wagon with the sick," he told Warren. "Whoa, whoa, what? I don't even get a riddle?" Murphy said. "We can afford compassion for the ill only because we have rules. That gonna be a problem?" He asked. "No. Not a problem," Warren said. "Will there be snacks?" Murphy asked. "Munchies," me and Doc said and the three of us laugh. Warren points at us and we just keep laughing. Murphy and I go to the back and sit in the wagon with Addy and the sick. Doc was with wrecking ball in the car and the rest were on the trailer if the truck. "Wagon train, ho!" The dude yelled and we headed off. 

We pass Cassandra and Murphy mumbles "Come on, girl. This train is leaving the station," she starts running but falls. Getting back up she starts running towards us. She gets close and Murphy holds his hand out for her and she grabs it. He pulls her into the wagon and sits down. She gets all close to him "everyone this is Cassandra. Cassandra this is.. oh whatever," Murphy said. Cassandra looks at you and glares and she growls at you. "Bitch growl at me again and your head will be meeting my bat," I told her. A sat beside Addy. Cassandra turned around "she's shy," Murphy said and I and Addy just looked at him. Murphy pulls Cassandra in and she leans against him. 

"Stop glaring," Addy said. "What? I'm not," I told her. "Yes you are," she told him. "I could care less what he does," I said. "mmmhmm," she said. We started slowing down as we came to a wreck. Addy hands one of the people a bottle of water and tried to comfort him. Murphy lite up another joint and Cassandra looked at him "zweed," he said and blew smoke into her mouth. "Zweed," she said. She looked at him "I feel something," she said. He smiled and took another hit blowing it in her mouth again. "Get a room," I said. Addy laughed and nudged me. There was a bunch of shooting going on as we passed a white van. 

There were two four-wheelers behind us. "Everybody wants a piece of the Murphy," Murphy said. I and Addy moved to where he was0 watching as they got closer. "Huddle up everybody! Get small!" Addy yelled. They drove passed us Nd up to the car Doc and wrecking ball was in. Cassandra had jumped out onto one of them and bit into him. "What the fuck is she doing? She's eating him!" I said. 

The truck then stopped "why are stopping?" Addy said. Murphy then stood up "Murphy?" I said and he took off. I and Addy got out and followed him dunno g over to Doc and wrecking ball. "Doc, Doc. We need to not be here," Murphy said. "Yeah? Well, I'm fine Murphy thanks for asking," Doc said. I looked up to see three blasters and grabbed a hold of Murphy's arm "Murphy," I whispered. "Nobody move," he said. Murphy pushed me behind him. "Dammit. I don't want to die by the roadside in the dirt with a jacked-up clavicle!" Wrecking ball said and stood up and so did Doc. "Doc. Fat guy. Don't freaking move," Murphy said moving in front of them. "Can't you talk to them?" Addy asked. "Addy," Doc said. "Go start the truck," Murphy said. "Why isn't it working?" Addy said. "Addy, do as Murphy says," Doc told her. Murphy put his hand up and looked at the blasters. "Wait, the Murphy?" Wracking ball asked. 

Addy slowly backed up towards the truck. "Crap. I'm gonna go start the truck" she said and got in the truck right away. "That ones mad at you Murphy," Doc said. I just stood there as still as possible. Addy tried to start the truck. "Back to the truck. Back to the truck. Everybody back to the truck," Murphy said grabbing my arm and pulling me with him as we ran to the truck. The blasters got the guy who was driving. Addy finally got the truck started and we took off. She ran over the one blaster that was crab walking towards us. "What the hell was that?" I said. As Murphy watched the blasters that just stood there watching us leave. He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer "I don't know," he said quietly. 

We eventually caught up with the rest of the group. Warren walked over opening the passenger side door "Addy," she said. "Those blaster things, they totally jammed Murphy. He haywired. Nobody here is safe," Addy told her. "We'll be rolling directly," Warren said. "Okay. I'll cover the medical wagon," Addy said. "Got it," Warren told her and closed the door. 

"Custer. I am so sorry. There were blasters, and the bandits they got," Wrecking ball started. "You were supposed to protect that car! And her! That's Athena!" Custer yelled at him. "Oh no, no. She was my friend. She didn't like me, but she wasn't mean to me either," Wrecking ball cried. Cuter slammed him against the truck. "Look at me. Two mothers, two daughters. They die of starvation. They turn Z!" He said. "Athena's dead. I can't think straight," Wrecking ball told him. "What happens after five minutes of..." Custer starts but Doc cuts him off. "Look, look, man! Things got pretty heavy back there," he says. "Hey, pipe down, hippie!" Custer tells him returning his attention back to wrecking ball. "If the radiation gets the better of you, you're a threat to the whole group," he says. "Minneapolis. I can go to Minneapolis. There's medicine there. I'll bring it back," Wrecking ball said. "Take him to the medical wagon," Custer said. "No, no! I can still help!" Wrecking ball begged. "Go on! Take him now!" Custer yells. "Check yourself, Custer. You don't look so good," Wrecking ball told him. 

Wrecking ball walked to the wagon and Murphy held his hand out for him. He took it and Murphy helped him up. We started moving again. Me, Addy and Murphy in the wagon with wrecking ball and the rest of the sick people. I sat across from Murphy and looked down the road behind us. "The radiation must have done something to them to make them be able to block you," I said. Murphy just looked at me. "Will you just do it now? I don't want one of those blasters to get me," I heard the one guy say. "I am not going to let that happen," Addy told him. "I shouldn't be back here. Custer, he's gonna get us all killed. Those stupid riddles of his. He... he even banished his own son to the medical wagon," Wrecking ball said. "Custer lost his son to the radiation?" Addy said. "I ain't dead yet. This whole death wagon is my fault. I got too sick to drive. The fool shoulda left me," the guy said. 

Murphy looked behind us so I looked to see what he was looking at. We stopped and Murphy got and so did i. I saw 10k and Doc jumping iff the truck. "Cassandra? Cassandra? You in there?" 10k said grabbing her. "Oh. You got a little something right here. Ugh," Doc said pulling an ax from her back. "Does it hurt?" 10k asked her. "I could use more Z weed," she said. "Couldn't we all?" Doc said. She looked up and walked passed them to Murphy. I moved out of the way and walked to 10k. "You good?" I asked. "Yeah. You?" He said. "Yip," I simply replied. We turned to watch her go to Murphy. "Do you think that Cassandra's more dead than alive?" 10k asked. "You mean is she more Z than person?" I asked. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "I don't know, kid. She kinda comes and goes," Doc told him. 

Warren was talking to Custer when Murphy, Wrecking ball and Cassandra walked passed and to the car getting in it and taking off. "Great," I said. We all got back on the truck and headed down the road. Addy started yelling at us to pick the speed up. "Here they come," 10k said. I was beside 10k. "Shot Addy," I said. We both went and jumped to the other truck and goes to her. "I really hate that one," 10k said. "Yeah," she told him and climbed up over the truck. We got back to the lead truck as the Zs and Blasters followed. Doc shot at the blasters and he fell. "Where'd he go? I think I got him," he said. "Come Doc. Move your ass," Addy said as we kept moving forward. 

We started slowing down. "Are we slowing down?" I said. "We need to not slow down," Doc said. We were coming up to a pile of junk on the road. "Everyone hamd on to something!" Warren said. We all grabbed onto something Warren got in making Custer plowed throw it. The blasters were gone a bit the Zs were still on the truck and coming at us. Addy gave Zeke mercy and we started shooting the others. Warren blew the horn and we all got ready to jump. 

Warren jumped and rolled Doc telling for her to hand on. "Everybody off!" Vasquez yelled. We throw our stiff and jumped rolling when he hit the ground. We stood up "shit," I said. "I've never jumped from a moving vehicle my whole life. And now boom, twice in one day," Doc said. We heard the horn to the truck sound and looked at it as it went down the road. We started walking back to the truck the wagon was hooked up to. "Now time to find Murphy. Again," I said. "You sure about Minneapolis?" Warren asked Addy. "Wrecking Ball was going on about some herbal cure for the zombie virus being cooked up in an old genetically modified food lab out there," Addy told her. "Hold on. Marijuana, zombies, and GMO's. What could go wrong?" Doc said. 10k opened the driver's side door and the guy driving it fell out. "You people really do attract it, don't you?" Vasquez asked. 10k just looked at him. 

"Help me with the hitch," he said and 10k followed him. We heard an explosion and looked down the road where the truck went. "A caravan of 20 refugees leaves Seattle's blast zone for Edmonton. They meet six survivors and one Murphy. How many refugees survive?" Warren said walking off with Doc following her. "Not one," Addy said and we followed. Warren and Addy got in the front and the rest of us got in the back and we drove off to find Murphy again.


	18. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

We drove down the road and 10k moved closer to Me. "You Okay? You seem upset," he said. "Nah I'm good. Just some crazy shit happened just trying to wrap my head around it," I told him. "Yeah. I'm here if you want to talk," he said. "I know,' I told him and laid my head on his shoulder. 

We came up to a gate and what looked like a bunch of greenhouses. There was a guy at the gate looking at us as we stood there. "You guys harvesters here for the cure?" He asked. "Yeah, that's right," Addy told him. I was twirling my bat around and he looked at us. "You're armed," he said. "Uh, yeah," I said annoyed. "Good. Harvesters wait in the garage until you're called. The others inside will give you the rundown," he said opening the gates. We walked in and walked towards where he said to. "You think Murphy's here?" I said. "Yeah, he's here. I can smell him," Warren said. "I think you're smelling the z weed," Doc told her. "We need some of that," I said and we high five each other and Warren gave us warning looking. 

"Help me! Get it off! Somebody help! Somebody pleases! Get it off me! Get it off me! Get it off me! Get it off me!" We heard a woman screaming. We ran over and helped the woman. Vasquez shot the Z in the head but it kept coming. He picked up the weapon on the ground and started smashing its head. Green goo going all over as the rest of us helped the woman. The man from the gate ran over to us. "Hey! Told you, people, to move into the garage where it's safe," he said. "Safety first, huh?" Doc said. "You got a problem?" He asked. "No, no brother. Just here for the cure," Doc told him and we walked away helping the woman. 

"You all right?" Warren asked the woman while Doc patched her up. "Yeah, I think so," she said. "Mama," the girl said sotting up. "Hey, baby. Hey. Mama's here. I came back to you just like I promised," she told her. "Did you find it?" The little girl asked her. "Not yet sweetie. But we're getting close," she told her. "Okay," she whispered. "Lay down," the woman told her. "How she doing?" Doc asked. "She's burning up. I can't keep her fever down," she said. "Have you tried antibiotics?" I asked her. "Nothing worked. Drug-resistant bacteria of some kind. I don't think she has much longer," she said. "Is that why you became a harvester?" I asked her. "I had to mercy her father in front of her after he turned z. She made me promise not to let that happen to her," she said. "You're a good mom," Addytold her. "That's the funny thing. I'm not her mom. Her mom's dead. Her whole family is dead. So it is mine. All we have is each other. And even not that for long. All these folks need what's in that greenhouse," she said

"Even if it kills them," Doc said. "Hey. This thing has a radio?" Addy asked walking to the tractor. "Yeah. Radio. Air conditioning. Leather seats. I used to drive one on my dad's farm," the woman told her. "Excellent. Now if only the batteries are charged," Addy said. There was a whistle. I walked over to 10k "What's up?" I said. Vasquez and Warren came over too. "I think I know where Murphy is," he said and pointed. "Cassandra," Warren said. "Kid's right. Murphy won't be far. Must be in the greenhouse," Vasquez said. "What's he doing in there?" Warren said. Addy was able to get a hold of CZ on the radio on the radio to get the coordinates. 

10k came over to us "Cassandra just went to the lab I think she saw me," he said. "What do you want to do? Wait for Murphy to come out and jump him?" Vasquez asked. "No, I don't like waiting. Bad things happen when you wait," Warren said. "Well we can take the guards hostage, search the compound for him," I said. "I like that. Doc and 10K, you guys create a diversion," Warren said. "Or you could just walk up and say hello like civilized people," Murphy said. "Hello my ass," I said looking at him. "You know these folks?" Some dude asked. "Oh, we've covered a bit of ground together," Murphy told him. 

"Yes, we have. And dude seriously I'm getting tired of chasing your bony ass all over the damn apocalypse," Doc said crossing his arms. "What are we messing around for? This man is our prisoner. We're taking him to California," Vasquez said. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Chill out, Rambo. That ain't gonna happen," Murphy told him. "Why not?" I asked. "Because princess the whole trip to California won't be necessary There's a cure for the zombie virus right here in that greenhouse. And all we have to do is go in there and get it," he said. "Batch 47 is real. We just tested it. A bona fide zombie miracle," the guy beside him said. "Well think about it. No more relying on me to save the human race. It's a win-win. Right?" Murphy said. "No, that's not our fight," Warren said. "Please. If there's any hope," the woman we helped said.

  
We decided to help, unfortunately. "Your job is to return to Batch 47 and harvest the rest of the seedpods," the doctor guy said. "And not get killed, right?" I said. "Is that... that's part of the plan?" Doc asked. "Well it's a secondary consideration, but sure. I have protection for you," he told us. "That's okay. I'm gonna go like this. I need to be able to move to fight," Warren said. "Yeah. I like to be able to run from danger," Doc told him. "I wouldn't take your guns. Bullets don't kill plants. I would take these," he told us. "All right, well I'll take the garden weasel. Always wanted one of those," Doc said. "I still don't know why we're risking our meal ticket here," Vasquez said. "If we don't come back, you shoot somebody or something," Warren told him. "Glad to. Besides, I have allergies," he said. "I got my bat in good,' i said "It's your show. Lead on," Warren told Murphy. 

"I hate this, " I said following after them. I say yes close to Murphy as we walked into the overgrown greenhouse. "It's like some kind of giant shop of horrors," Doc said. "You better not let me get killed Murphy," I said. "Don't worry princess I won't. "Watch it," Warren said and 10k used his slingshot hitting the Z in the forehead. Murphy put his hand up to his Murphy's head and unlocked at him weirdly. "Three thousand two hundred and sixteen," 10k said. "Hey, you should be dead," he said when the Z wasn't dead. He held his slung shot up again to shoot it but Murphy stopped him "That won't work here. They're all interconnected by the vines. You can't kill one without killing all of them," he said walking up to the Z. 

The Z backed up and we walked after him. "There it is," he said. We stood in front of a big ass Z. "Let's do this and get the hell out of here. Doc and 10K, you guys harvest the leaves. Murphy, Nik and I will get the seedpods," Warren instructed. We started picking the leaves and seedpods. "Careful! Remember these things have feelings," Murphy said. "Reminds me of my days back in Humboldt," Doc said. "Easy now," Murphy warned as we picked the leaves and seedpods. "You're gonna wake him," he whispered. I picked a seedpod and the Zs eyes flew open. 

Murphy went up to the Z and started to try and calm it down. The Zs around us started to wake and come towards us and we all stood back without weapons up. "Murphy!" I said. He grabbed the vines the were connected to the big Z "Quick!" He said so we started lucking more as fast, as possible. "I can't hold this for long," he told us. We picked faster picking what we could. "I'm losing it," Murphy told us as the Z started to get angrier. Warren pulled her machete slicing the vine Murphy was held on to. He rolled backward and the other Zs started to come at us. "Murphy," I yelled as he ran away. "Okay, let's go! Come on! Let's go!" Warren told us and we ran. 

We made it out and Addy came up to us. "Warren," Addy said. "What's going on? Where's Vasquez and Mur.." Warren started but Addy stopped her and nodded her head towards and a man with a red shirt and black suit on. He walked up to us and stood in front of Warren. "Who are you?" She asked. "My name is Hector Alvarez. But my friends call me Escorpion. I'm the Vice President in charge of sales for the Zero Cartel. How can I help you today?" He said. "Well you can start by telling us what the hell is going on," she told him. "This? Just a little business between friends. I see you've been harvesting. Let me guess. Batch 47?" He said looking at Doc he walked a little closer to Warren. 

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to give it to me," he told her. Warren motioned for Doc to give the man what we picked. Warren put the bags on the ground and another guy came over and picked them up. "I know what you are thinking.m, and yes it's true," the man told Warren. "But that was then and this is now. We are the new Zeros. The more user-friendly Zeros. Admittedly, the transition was not easy," he said. "Yeah, well change is always hard," Warren said. "You see, you know. But I digress. Where were we? Oh yes. Batch 47," he said walking back to the guy in the lab coat. 

"So this is the cure everyone is talking about, huh? Reminds me of the Crocodile we used to sell back in the day. Step one. We need a fresh zombie," he said. One of his men shot one of the workers without hesitation. Hector looked at him and said something to him in Spanish. "I am very sorry about that. Good help is hard to find these days," he said looking at us all. "I've only ever tested it on a zombie. I have no idea what a safe or effective dose on a human is," the guy in the lab coat said. "There's only one way to find out. I got a great idea. The Power Vape 3000. Solar-powered. The stuff you potheads come up with. I can control the dose with this," Hector told him. "Well, it only takes a microdose to stimulate the immune system. Any more than that could be fatal," he told him. "Says who?" Hector said. Hector's guys grabbed him and held him still. "Hey. No," he said. Hector walked up to him and made him take a hit off the vape. 

"Say when. Say when! Say when! Say when!" Hector yelled. "When!" The guy told him. "Oh! Ha! Wow! I feel good," he said. "Good. Bring on the zombie. A bite from this zombie, and we'll know for sure," Hector said. "Really? Now what?" Hector said looking back up to see the side had turned Z. "Odegard? Wait. Did you see him die?" He asked. "What are you, some kind of living zombie?" Hector asked the Z. "Yeah. The world needs that like a hole in the head," he said and shot him and the Z behind him. "So much for Batch 47. Grab the z weed. Let's get out of here, huh?" Hector told his men. One of his men came pushing passed you speaking Spanish holding onto some guy. Hector walked up and looked at the man. 

"Who's this?" He asked and pulled the guys hood down. "Doctor Kurian?" He said. "Hello, Hector," Kurian said. "What happened to your face? That looks like my mom's chicharrones," Hector said. "It's a long story," he said. "You can tell it to La Reina. Put him in the trunk, huh? You two, you're in charge now," Hector said. "Si, Senor," they said. "Burn the greenhouse down with Batch 47. We need to get back to our core mission. You understand me?" He told them. "Si Senor," they said. Hector walked over and the back door was opened for him. He got in and they closed the door while a couple of other guys opened the hatch. They pulled out a gas can and went over to the greenhouse where batch 47 was and walked in to douse it in gasoline

"We gotta find Murphy," I said. "Yeah, come on," Warren said and we walked back inside the greenhouse. We were walking through keeping an eye out when Murphy ran passed us. "Murphy!" I yelled. "After him!" Warren yelled and we turned running after him. I was the first one to make it fo him. He was being dragged back into the greenhouse by the vines. I started trying to untangle him when Warren and Doc came put and joined in. We started cutting the vines and pulled him back "Stop moving before I cut your foot off," Doc to him. "I tried to save you," he said. Doc said something but I didn't hear him as I got up and went to help 10k and Addy. 

The Z came out if the greenhouse and he tried to mercy it. He throws Addy and 10k then grabbed me by the throat and picked me up off the ground. "Murphy!" I screamed. "Nik! I'm coming," I heard him. Next thing I knew I was flying through the air and then my back his the ground hard knocking the wind out of me as my head banged off the ground. "Nik!" I heard 10k yell. I used all the strength I could go put a thumbs up. He and Addy grabbed the vines to the Z before it could get any closer to Murphy and put them in the fan. "No don't kill him," Murphy yelled but it was too late. The Z got sucked in and got cut up causing a mess. 

They got Murphy outta there and Vasquez helped me up and got me to the SUV. Cassandra and 10k got in the back where the hatch was, Warren and Addy got in the front. Doc ran over and got in behind Addy and Murphy was in the middle "You got to be kidding! I have to sit on Murphy's lap again?" I said. 'Yes! Now get in!" Warren said. I climbed in and sat on his lap and Vasquez got in shutting the door and Warren took off. 

We got out onto the road and Warren got away from there as fast as possible. I leaned back against Murphy moving so my back was towards Doc and I could lean my head on Murphy's should. "Well that was fun," Doc said. "Yeah, so much fun. I'm in so much pain," I said. I gelt Murphy put his one arm around my back "you shouldn't have killed him," He said. "You're alive, aren't you?" I said. "Why are we headed south? Shouldn't we be going west?" Murphy said. "Still too much fallout west. We can turn west south of Missouri," Warren told him. 

"What the hell is some woman doing out here by herself?" Warren said. "It can't be. It's Serena," Addy said. "No way. Murphy, is that your pie girl?" Doc said. "Pie girl?" Vasquez questioned. "Pie girl," 10k said. "Boy is she pregnant," Doc said. "Pregnant?" Murphy said. "Yeah, like ten months pregnant," I said looking at her. I felt his grip tighten on me "No, no. You're not stopping for her, are you?" He asked warren. "Uh-huh. Yeah," she said. "No, drive. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go," he said but she stopped.

Addy got out and walked towards her "Serena!" She yelled. "Hey. Addy," she said. "Where are you going?" Addy asked. "We're just looking for our baby-daddy," she told her. "Daddy? Daddy? Is that you? Is that really you?" She said and came over to Vasquez's side and looked through the window "Hey," he said "He's here BaBa. Daddy's here," she said rubbing her belly. We all leaned over and looked at her belly seeing the baby moving and then it pressed its face up and we all jumped back making the car sway. "Oh No! Hell no!" I said. "I agree," Murphy said. Vasquez got out and went to the back with 10k and Cassandra and Serena got in beside Murphy and shut the door.


	19. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

Serena looked over at Murphy and smiled but then she looked at me and glared at me. I just gave her a tight-lipped smile. She looked at Murphy again "Hi daddy," she said giggling. "Umm hi," he said. "Awkward," I mumbled and sat forward between the driver's seat and passenger seat "can we go now?" I asked Warren. "Yeah, now sit back," she told me. I sat back with my back against Murphy's chest. I could see Serena glaring at me from the corner of my eye and clear my throat. Doc leaned over "I don't think she likes you much kid," he whispered. I turned to look at him "Yeah think," I sarcastically said. I felt murphy wrap his arms around my waist and pull me closer to him and I could have sworn I heard her growl. "This is going to be a long ride," I said. 

We eventually ended up in a town in Wisconsin. We had to run from some Zs dressed up for the parade. Murphy, of course, was walking with Cassandra beside him and he had an umbrella acting like he was out on a Sunday afternoon stroll. "Wisconsin cheese day parade," 10k said. Addy laughed as she ran with Serena "You betcha!" She said. I was walking towards the back with Vasquez, murphy, and Cassandra "Hey. I thought you control these things," Vasquez said to Murphy. "Not that many. And not for you" he said. "Just keep moving," I told them. 

"Whoa, wait a minute. Is that cheese?" Doc said as we ran passed a huge wheel of cheese. Addy was parting Serena back as she threw up. "No way! The world's biggest wheel of cheese?" 10k said. "It's not real, Doc! Come on! We got to go! Puppies and kittens!" Warren yelled. "No, it is real!" He said cutting a piece off. "It's like 4 years old Doc!" I told him. Hey. Hey, come on. Let's go. We got to move," Vasquez said. Warren walked over to Addy "Hey, let's go," she said. "She's not moving," Addy told her. Warren was looking ar the cheese and I looked back at it smiled. 

"Got an idea. Out of my way, Doc. I need that cheese," Warren said. "Oh come on, Warren. Can't a man eat a giant cheese wheel in peace?" Doc said. "No. Remember Philly?" I told him smiling. "Oh no. Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Doc said. "I am," Warren said. "I'll help," I told her. "Oh no, no, no, no," Murphy said. 'Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," I said. Addy ran over and grabbed the piece of wood from in front of it and "Way to be my girls. Thanks," Warren said. "I got it," Addy said. "What happened in Philly?" Vasquez asked. "You'll see," 10k told him. Addy, Warren and I got into position "ready? On three," Addy said. "1...2....3," I said and we pushed the wheel of cheese down the hill. 

It rolled down the hill and over the Zs that got in its way. "Damn," Vasquez said. "How long you think it'll go?" 10k said. "Could go a while. I'm pretty sure It's all downhill from here to the Mississippi," Warren told him. "Now, it's time to go. If anybody asks..." she said. "We were nowhere near Wisconsin," we all said. We then took off running again back to the truck. 

We were driving down a dirt road when Addy told Warren we needed to pull over. Serena opened the door runn8ngvinro the field and Addy ran after her. Me, Doc, Murphy and of course Cassandra got out too. Cassandra was on top of the truck while I and Murphy were leaning against it and Doc was standing beside Murphy with his arm against the truck. "Well, aren't you gonna at least talk to her?" Doc asked him. "Yeah Murphy it is your kid after all," I said. Murphy just looked at us. "Come on, Murphy. She doesn't bite," Doc told him. "We all know that's not true," Murphy said. "Okay," Doc said. "You should have pulled out Murphy. We wouldn't be in the position right now if your would of," I said and he just glared at me and Doc chuckled. 

Addy walked over to us and stood in front of Murphy "she wants you," she told him. "So?" He said. "So she says that talking to you makes her feel better and that she can't get in the car unless you make her feel better," she said. "No," he simply said. "Murphy," I said. "What?" He asked. "Go talk to her so we can leave," I said. He rolled his eyes and walked over but then stopped and grabbed my wrist. I yelled "hey!' i said. "You're coming with," he said. "What?!" I asked and looked at Doc. "Play nice," he said. 

We walked over to her and she looked up and smiled seeing him but it fell once she saw me. "He made me come over here. Look how about we take you over And sit down yeah?" I said. She nodded and we started walking to the back of the truck and she started talking but intones it out. They both sat down and stood there looking around until her voice brought me back. "And then there was this guy, and he was like "I used to be a cage fighter. I beat a 7-foot Samoan. I can beat Mike Tyson in a bar fight. I can beat any zombie you bitches throw at us." And we were like, "What about a bear, huh? What about a zombie bear?" She said laughing. "But he couldn't. He couldn't beat a zombie bear. He didn't cuz the bear was like Rawr Blagh! Rawr! Then he was like" she said making a face. "And then he was like... Rawr blah blah blah!" She said. 

I and Murphy were looking at her like she was crazy then she cut up and projectile vomited. I jumped back and Murphy pulled his legs up to his chest. "Gross," I said. Murphy stood up and grabbed my hand and we walked quickly to Addy, Vasquez, and Warren who was standing at the hood of the truck. "Can't we just leave her?" Murphy asked. "No, we can't. We got to find a safe place for her and your baby. Anything happens to you, that kid is Plan B," Warren said. "Plan B? What exactly are you planning on doing with it?" Murphy asked. "Used to be a decent size Mennonite community just southeast of here. Pretty remote and isolated. I passed through here a few months ago. They were still safe then and a good chance they still are," Vasquez said. "I'll take that chance," Warren said just as we hear a gunshot and the windshield shattered. 

We all ducked down and I grabbed Murphy and ran around the other side of the truck. We all huddle there while 10k looked around the front to see if he could see anything. "Got 'em," he said. "What do you see?" I asked. "Couple of guys in hunting caps. One seriously pissed off looking girl with..." he said but ducked when they shot at him. "She's got my same gun," he said. "Well, why's she shooting at us?" I said. "I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with this nice Zero ride we got," Vasquez said. "Can't imagine our Mexican friends are too popular around here," he said. 10k took a shot and ducked back down. "Winged one," he said. "Okay, I'm thinking 10K and Addy, you guys lay down some cover fire. And then we'll flank them around..." Warren started but she was cut off. 

We looked over to see Serena with a gun shooting at the people and yelling. "You dirt-eating bastards! You filthy goat loving whores! There is a baby on board here! A mother loving baby! I am going to rip off your arms and saw off your head!" She screamed until the gun was out of bullets. "Yeah. That's what I thought," she said. We all just stood there and looked at her. "People are so rude," she said. "I'm starting to like this girl," Doc said. "Yeah," Murphy said smiling looking her up and down. "I think it's time for a new vehicle," I Said walking away. 

We walked up the hill through the field and onto another dirt road. Of course, Serena was talking the whole time. "So I was thinking as soon as she can walk, I can teach her karate. I mean the girl's got kick in her. You totally felt that, right? And she isn't that bad with a punch either. Plus there are all these awesome weapons she could learn about She could have a bo staff or a sword. She'd be amazing," she said. We came to a red pickup truck. Warren, Vasquez, Murphy, and Serena got in the cab of the truck and the rest of us got in the bed of the truck. I stood st the driver's side window "Looks all clear I think Serena got them all," I told Warren after me and 10k checked everything out. "Good," she said. 

"Okay, so they did shoot at us. But hey, they left us this nifty ride and a half ate a hamburger that hasn't degraded in four years," Murphy said. "Oh, me, me, me, me. Please, please?" Serena said. "You want this?" Murphy asked. "Baby wants it," she said. "Well, if baby wants it," he said handing it to her. "Mmm-hmmm. Mmmmmmm," she said eating it. "Now how close is this Mennonite place again?" Warren asked Vasquez. "Close. Just drive," he said and I hopped in the back of the truck. 

We finally pulled up outside a farm "Well we've seen Amish zombies, Mormon zombies. We get Mennonite zombies, we got ourselves a trifecta," Addy said. "Something must've happened here. The barn didn't look that way six months ago. Wait a minute. There's some livestock. That's a good sign," Vasquez said. "Yeah, well we're not going in there blind. So, Vasquez, you take the north fence. 10K, you go south. Addy and I got overwatch. Be back in twenty," Warren said. "Fine, I'll just take a nap," Doc said. "I'll join you," I told him and followed. 

Me, Doc, Warren, Addy, Cassandra, Murphy and Serena all stayed at the truck and waited for 10k and Vasquez. Addy hopped up and sat on the roof of the truck, Doc sat while Warren stood in the bed of the truck, Cassandra stood outside, Murphy and Serena sat in the cab of the truck and I leaned on the hood. I watched as Serena and Murphy acted all cutesy with each other. "Gross," I said to myself.   
I looked up to see 10k walking back towards us so I walked around the truck to meet him. "We got 10k. Vasquez," Addy said. "Not yet," Warren told her. 

Cassandra went up to him and sniffed him then grunted and walked away. "Well?" I said to 10k. "Yeah, there are still people here. But they ran away from me," he told us. "Zombies?" I asked. "The usual. Oh, there's also zombie sheep," he said. "Zombie sheep? Why not?" Doc said. "What's all that?" I asked pointing to the white powder all over him. "Uh. Came out of a Z's head when I killed it. I dunno, maybe powdered brains?" He said. " well Wash that crap off. We don't know what it is or what it will do," I told him. "Who knows what kinda zombie cooties are in there," Warren said. 

'"Are we goin' in or what?" Murphy asked. "Yeah, but carefully," Warren told him. "Something about this doesn't feel right," I said. "Never stopped us before," Addy said and she jumped off the roof. "I haven't felt right since 1973," Doc said and I chuckled jumping in the bed of the truck. Warn started the truck and headed the rest of the way up the lane. Once we got to the top of the lane we all got out. Looking around there was a house and several sheds and barns. We saw Vasquez walking towards us holding something by a string.  



	20. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

"What happened to you?" Warren asked him. "A few Zs. I found this," he said holding up a ham. "What is it?" Warren asked him. "Cured ham," I said. "Maybe mutton. And for you Strawberry jam. Top five missed foods, right?" He said throwing Doc the ham and handing Warren and Addy a jar. "Thanks," Addy said. "I miss pizza," I said. "Of course you do," 10k said and I elbowed him. "Now you're finding food? How are you always finding this stuff?" Warren asked him. "Well, he found the key to my heart. Smoked pig," Doc said. "Why don't you have white powder on you?" I said noticing he didn't have any in him as 10k did. "White powder?" He asked. He looked at 10k and he looked surprised but then five or six Zs came out of the house. 

Addy hit one with her and I was about to do the same until white powder flew everywhere making her cough. I pulled my gun instead and shot one backing up. "Pull back! Pull back! Come on! Get out of there!" Warren yelled. Doc took the ham and took a Z out and 10k came over "no!" I said running over but Doc brought the ham down on its head and where powder surrounded us. I took my shirt and covered my face turning away from it. 

When it clear there were Mennonites standing in front of us. I was stood beside 10k and Doc was on his other side. "You English should not be here," the one said. "We're not staying. One of our people needs a place to have her baby. Can I talk to a leader?" Warren said. I watched 10k sway he wasn't looking good. "An elder?" She asked. "No, no, I... I am a leader now. All elders are dead. And it is not safe for you here. The white powder. We have anthrax here," he told us. My eyes widened "Anthrax!" I said. "All right folks, time to go. There's no room at this inn. Ah, sorry for your trouble," Warren said to him. "Everyone has trouble these days," he said looking at 10k. "Ain't that the truth," she said. 

We turned to leave but 10k fell to the ground. "10K!" I said and dropped down beside him. "Hey," I said lifting his head in my hands to get him to look at me. "Oh man, he's burning up," Doc said feeling his forehead. "He has it. This disease. Miliband Krankheit," the guy told us. "We got to get him out of here," Doc said. "And take him where?" I asked him. "I dunno. Someplace without anthrax or anthrax zombies or anthrax sheep," Doc said. "What he needs is antibiotics," Vasquez said. I looked at Doc "You got any of those?" I asked him. "Yeah, maybe," he said Come on. 

We ran over to the truck. We stood in front of Serena "Excuse me, I got to get... Hi... Uh..." don't start. "Oh," she said eyes wide. "What the hell was that?" Murphy asked. "Water broke, daddio," Doc told him. "Great," I said frustrated. "Well don't just stand there. Fix it!" Murphy said and I gave him a look. "It's all good. Won't be long now, papa," Serena told him. "Well, have fun with that and good luck," I said and walked back over to 10k. Doc and the Mennonite gut picked him up and we walked to a barn. Walking in there was other laying in bunks moaning and coughing. 

  
We played 10k down on one and I knelt down beside the bed. "Nik?" He whispered. "I'm right here," I said and grabbed his hand. A woman came over with pills and water. She had 10k take to pills. "What's she giving him?" I asked. "Cipro," the man told me. "From the next farm over. They use it for the animals, but it will help," he said. Yeah, well why's she only giving him half a pill?" Doc asked. "We must have enough for everyone," he said. "Enough for everyone to recover?" I asked. He just looked at me and I focused my attention back to 10k. 

"You're going to be okay. We'll get you back to normal I promise," I told him running my hand through his hair. "I'll be back I'm going to go help Addy you get some rest," I said and kissed his forehead. I walked out and went to the barn Addy, Serena and Murphy were in. Cassandra stepped in front of me and hissed. "Bitch I told you the next time you growled at me your head was going to meet my bat," I said. "Ler her in," I heard Murphy just as I lifted my bat up. Cassandra stepped aside and I glared at her as I walked by. "You look terrified Murphy, " I said to him. "I'm about to have a kid," he said. "Yes. Yes you are," I said patting his chest and walked into the barn. 

Addy was helping Serena lay down on a blanket she spread across some hay bails. Murphy followed me. "Rub my back," Serena told him. "Rub your bad," he said. "Rub it. Rub it. Rub it," she repeated. "Do it," Addy told him. He put his hands on her shoulders and started rubbing them. "Harder!" She yelled so he rubbed harder. After she had enough I and addy helped her change into a nightgown and she sat up against a hay bail. 

She was screaming in pain and Murphy just stood to be her not knowing what to do. Doc ran through the door with his bag "Doc! Oh thank god," I said. He came over and knelt down "how is ya doing?" He asked Serena and she just screamed making him stand up and back away. "Whoa," I mumbled. Addy went outside to go with Vasquez and the guy we talked to earlier. They were going to go into town and see if they could find any more antibiotics. 

"Well help her," I told doc. "Right okay," he said and knelt back down. "Okay, now here's what you do. You just... It's just like blowing up a balloon, right? Just take quick short breaths," he told Serena. She got on her knees and started taking deep breaths while she looked at him. Then she stopped and screamed pushing doc to the ground. Doc! What are you doing? You got to help her!" Murphy said. "That's all I got, man!" He said. "Nik! Help her!" Murphy yelled at me. "Me? I never gave birth before Murphy!" I yelled. "You're a woman you should know what to do!" He yelled back. "Sexist asshole!" I yelled. 

Warren then walked over to us. I, her and Doc just stood there and watched as Murphy knelt down in front of Serena. "Okay, that's it. That's it. You got to let it out, baby. Just let it out," he told her. And they both screamed. "What in the actual fuck," I said. Doc started to look like he was panicking "Doc, come on. Don't worry. It's a natural process. Come on. It'll all take care of it itself. Okay?" Warren said as Murphy and Serena kept screaming weird noises. "I think I'm going throw up," I said looking at them. Warren looked at them and then back at our eyes wide in disbelief. Doc just put his hand over his eyes and put his head down. 

  
Murphy was now doing breathing excuses with her and he ended up falling over. I snorted "you good there Murphy?" I said helping him up. He stood and leaned against the pole. "Don't worry about him Niks got him. You keep breathing, sweetheart," Doc told Serena. "Do you really think that this is helping?" She asked. "Well, I felt good about it. It's way more peaceful. Less violent," he told her. "Oooh, I'm sorry booboo. I got carried away," she said to Murphy. "Don't you worry your pretty little head," he told her. "Doc. I don't feel so good. You got anything?" Murphy said. 

"You're just nervous, papa. Don't worry. You're gonna love that baby no matter what. Even if it looks like you," Dic said. "Ha! Oh my god that poor kid," I laughed. Murphy glared at me "Really? You haven't got anything for me? How 'bout a cigar?" Murphy said to Doc. "A cigar?" I said. "You got a cigar? A cigarette? Z weed?" Murphy said. Doc pulled something out of his pocket and held it up. "Gum?" Murphy said. "It's nicotine gum," Doc said. "I'll take it," Murphy said tsking and putting it in his mouth. "Right okay I'm going fo go check on 10k," I said and left. 

I walked out to find Warren "they're back," she said we walked over fo them. "Anything?" Warren asked. Addy shook her head. A woman walked over to talk to the leader then he looked at us "your man," he said. "10k," I said. As we went to follow Addy fell to the ground "Addy?" Warren said. As they helped her I ran to where 10k was. 

I ran into the building he was in and knelt down. "Tommy?" I said. He looked at me and coughed up blood. "Oh god no," I said. He reached his hand out and I took it. "I'm going to make sure you get better I promise," I said. Warren and Vasquez came in guns up. "I thought you might come. It is the medicine you want?" The leader said. "It's just We got to keep going. Our team, we got to get to California. And our man Murphy, he's immune. There's a lab. To make a vaccine. Medicine. Medicine that will help a lot of people. Save a lot of people," Warren said. "We believe that peace is will of God. We follow the way of peace, justice, unity," he said. 

Warren walked passed them and went to where the meds were while Vasquez came over and helped me get 10k up. "Come on Tommy," I said and Vasquez lifted him up over his shoulder and we went to the barn and put down beside Addy. I stepped aside and looked at Warren stopping her. "Warren. Thank you," I said tears in my eyes. "Of course. We'll get him back to normal, " she said and hugged me. "I guess its time to help deliver a baby," I said. "Yeah," she said and we walked over to where Doc was. 

Serena was scream8ng and her legs were spread open. "I see something!" Murphy yelled. "That is not ahead," I said. "Yeah, but sometimes that happens, right? Sometimes they get turned around and they come out feet first, right?" Murphy asked. "Uh yeah, but that's not a foot," Warren said. "Whoa! That baby's not waiting to get pushed out. It's pulling itself out," Doc said. We all looked as the baby pulled itself out. "Here she comes!" Serena yelled. The baby pulled itself out. Serena had her in her arms and started cleaning her off. "Shes blue," I said. "Yeah. Just like her dad," Murphy said.

"Congratulations, Daddy," Serena said. "You did good, Mommy," he told her. "Well, what is it?" Doc asked. "It's a girl," Murphy said. "Oh, of course," the doc said and I chuckled a little shaking my head. "Uh, Doc. What is the cleaver for?" I asked him. "Umbilical cord," he said. "Oh! Whoa!" I said as the baby bit the cord in half. "I guess she's got that covered," Doc said. "That's my girl," Murphy said and walked closer to Serena. 

  
"Can I?" He asked and she hands him the baby. He looked at us and smiled "Look. Ten fingers. Ten toes," he said. "Uh, Murphy," I said as I noticed zombies surround8ng us. "Isn't she cute?" He asked. The baby cried and the zombies started to come towards us. "Cover Addy and 10K," Warren said. "Murphy! Do your zombie voodoo thing!" I yelled. He tired but they didn't stop "It's not working! They're drawn to the baby!" He said. Serena. Jumped up "Get away from my baby you damn dirty zombies! Go! Go! Go!" She yelled and we ran to the barn door. 

"Where's Serena?" I said. We turned around to see her fighting if the Zs and then shd was bitten. "Help her. Please," Murphy said. "Don't watch," I told him and pulled my gun. "I give you mercy," I said and pulled the trigger hitting her between the eyes. We ran out of the barn and got in the truck and took off. After a while, we pulled over and Murphy got out walking away. The rest of us stood around the bed of the truck. I looked at 10k who was sitting in the bed propped up with his eyes closed. 

"That's a lot of miles to cover before dark. We should get going," Vasquez said. "I'll go get Murphy," I said. "I'll come with you," Warren said and we walked over to Murphy. I and Warren sat on either side of him. "She's pretty," I said. "I got something for you," Warren said handing him something. "What's that?" He asked. "Serena's list of babies' names," she said. "What, are they terrible?" I asked as he looked ar the list. He handed Warren the list "Look, Sarah. Ellen. Carolyn. Come on. These are nice names, " she said. "Yeah, if she wants to join the PTA. But that's not you, is it sweetheart?" He said looking at the baby. "My mother's name was Lucinda. I think I'll call her Lucy. Lucy. The first of your kind," Murphy said. I and warren looked at each other than at the baby. "Isn't she perfect?" Murphy asked sniffling "Oh Here," Warren said handing him a rag. "Oh. Lucy, you got 'splainin' to do," he said and we sat there looking at the little blue baby. 


	21. Having A Crush On The Savior Of Humanity

I walked away to leave Warren to talk to Murphy alone. Walking over to the truck and claiming in the bed of it and sat down beside 10k. "Hey, how ya feeling?" I asked him. "Kinda tired but I don't feel like death anymore," he told me. I smile and kissed his forehead. "Addy gave me condoms," he said like it was nothing. "I'm sorry Addy did what?" You said looking at the redhead. "She gave me condoms so I don't end up like Murphy," he said. "Okay, makes sense. But you don't need to worry about sex," I told him. "Nik, I'm 21 now. I'm still a virgin. I want to have sex," he said. "Okay, yeah but..... but its not....you're.... just make sure whoever the girl is she's worth it and make sure she's human, " I said. 10k just nodded his head and smirked. Warren and Murphy walked over to the truck "let's go!" Warren said. Everyone got in the truck and we left and headed down the road.

After a few days, we ended up in Springfield, Illinois. We were currently fighting off Zs as usual. 10k was on top of a car using his slingshot and I was swinging my bat like I was hitting for a homerun. "Ooooh! And she knocks it out of the park!" I say as I hit a Z in the head causing its head to snap back so hard it hit it's back. Everyone else was fitting off the Zs as well while Murphy stood over by a blue van with Cassandra trying to keep the baby safe. Murphy put his hand up controlling the Zs for a minute but lost control. "Murphy!" I yelled and his head snapped over to me. I was standing over by the bus with Doc swinging at the Zs. "Doc!" Murphy yelled and through little Lucy in the air above to Zs. Doc stumbled back catching her. 

"Run Doc!" I said as Zs started coming towards us. We ran into the bus but stopped in our tracks. The bus was full of Abraham Lincoln's zombies. "Shit," I whispered. "Holy acid flashback man," Doc said. "We gotta go now!" I said turning around. Doc tried opening the door but it wouldn't open. I stood there with my bat out in front of me while the Abe Zs started to stand and Doc was yelling for help. The door was finally popped open and Addy and Warren were standing there. I and Doc jumped out and backed up. The Abe Zs started flowing out of the bus. "What in God's name," Warren said. "Oh good you see em too," Doc said. "Addy, hot potato," Doc said and throw her the baby. Addy dropped her bat and caught lucy. 

"Warren, take lucy," Addy said and passed her the baby. Warren took her and headed away from the Zs. Addy picked her bat up and 10k was there with his slingshot. We all started killing the Abe Zs. "This is fucking weird!" I said. After we killed all of them Lucy was crying. "Here Nik your turn," Warren said handing the baby to me. I awkwardly took hee with was an arm and holding my bat in my other hand. Doc leaned down picking up a top hat and put it on "This is so wrong," he said. I tried comforting lucy but she just crying. "I ain't good at this," I said. Then Murphy and Cassandra came running around the bus. 

Murphy ran up to me just as she started calming down. "I'll take her now," he said as he gently took hee from you. "You're okay," he said as he took her. "Adorable isn't she?" He said looking at me. "Thought you said you didn't like babies," I said. "I didn't say that. I said I didn't like that baby. But she's daddies special little angel. Aren't you," he said rocking Lucy. We all just looked around at each other. I looked at Murphy with a raised eyebrow and he looked at me "What?" He said and I just shook my head. 

We eventually got out of town and started walking through the woods. Murphy sat on a rock holding Lucy and Cassandra were squatted behind him. I stood near them keeping an eye out while Doc and Addy walked over towards us. "I can't believe people actually wear these," Doc said. He stopped and stood by Murphy and Addy kept walking. "Could you imagine sitting behind someone in the theater wearing that? No wonder they shot Lincoln" Murphy said laughing. I and Doc just looked at him with that really Murphy look. "What too soon," Murphy said. 

"How's little Lucy?" Doc said. "Finished all her sugar water as a good little girl," Murphy said. "Didn't you?" He said to the baby and she made a noise then left one go. "That's my little stinker," Murphy said laughing. "Ahh," me and Doc both said backing away. "Have you smelled yourself lately?" Murphy said. He got up and walked off the Cassandra right behind him. I and Doc walked over to the rest of the group. 

"Hey, is anyone else worried about the baby?" Doc asked. "I don't know whether to be worried about that baby or afraid of that baby. I see the way she attracts Zs," Warren said. "That baby, and I use the word loosely, is gonna get us all killed," Vasquez said. "Bro, she's a baby. Relax," Addy said. "Yeah. A baby sprung from Murphy's loins," Doc said. "She's not just a baby. She's something else. She could grow up to be the savior of the human race or the queen of destruction. And we need to find out which and do what we got to do," Warren said. "Hey, where's 10k?" I asked. "Went fishing," Warren told me and we walked away. Not noticing Vasquez walking in a different direction. 

We were over by a run-down building Doc was getting ready to start a fire. 10k walked over with a few fish "Got sone trout!" He said. "Kid, you are a fishing guru," Doc said. "What's your secret?" He said grabbing the chain they were on. "Be one with the fish," 10k said with a straight face. We all laughed. "Far out," Doc said. "Atta boy," Warren said as 10k sat down beside me. "Well, I got some foil in here somewhere. We're gonna fry one of them, bad boys, up," Doc said. "All right," responded. 10k lools over at where Murphy and Cassandra were. "Hey We need to get a look at that baby," Warren whispers to us. "Yeah, well good luck," Addy said. 

"Super Dad over there won't let anybody touch her," I said. "I'm guessing he's afraid we're gonna leave her behind. Which isn't something that we're actually considering doing, right?" Addy said. "Something tells me she's gonna outlive us all," Warren said. 

"Where's Vasquez?" Warren asked after awhile. "Disappeared again," Doc said. "I passed him in the woods. Heading south toward town," 10k told her. "Well, I'm gonna find out where he keeps disappearing to. And you three see if you can't get that baby away from Murphy," Warren said. "Hey, Warren," Addy said handing her her knife. "Thanks. Save me some fish," she said and walked off. 

Me, Doc 10k and Addy sat around and talked about how to go about getting the baby away from Murphy. We decided to just go up to him and act as normal as possible. We walked up to Murphy as Cassandra looked at me "growl at me and I'll send you," I told her and she looked away. "Hey, What's she chew on?" Doc asked Murphy. "I dunno. "Something she picked up," Murphy said shrugging. "Is that a finger?" I asked. "Maybe," he said. "Come here," he whispered and took the finger away from the baby. She started crying "Great. You happy now?" Murphy said flinging the finger towards us.

"Shhh," Murphy shushes trying to calm Lucy down. "Look, Murphy. Nobody's saying you're a bad father. We just think it'd be a good idea... to you know..... give the baby a little checkup," I told him. "That's all," Doc said. "There's nothing wrong with little LuLu. And since when are you a pediatrician, huh?" Murphy said looking ar Doc. "Murphy, she's just had sugar water to eat. Let Doc have a quick look at her," Addy said. "She looks fine to me," Murphy said. "Takes a village," Doc said. "I don't know what you're up to. But I don't like it," Murphy said standing up. 

He started to walk away and we walked after him. "Stop following me," He said. "We're not following you," Doc said. "You're afraid of her. Or afraid of what she might become. What we might become. Don't forget. I've seen how you treat babies," Murphy said to us. "And we've seen how you treat humans," 10k spat back. "I'm not gonna let you hurt her," He says. "Murphy," I said. Lucy started continued to cry "Baby and I are going for a walk. Make sure they stay here. Nobody leaves. Nobody leaves," he says to Cassandra. "Where do you think you're going?" I asked going to walk after him but Cassandra stopped me. "Someplace safe from people like you," Murphy spat and walked off. 


End file.
